GAZA CITY: Israeli air strikes have killed at least 13 Palestinians, including two boys, a pregnant woman, and nine police officers, in war-torn Gaza, according to local health officials and authorities.
An attack on Sunday struck a house in the urban refugee camp of Nuseirat in central Gaza, killing four people, including a couple in their 30s and their 10-year-old son, according to Al-Aqsa Hospital.
The woman was pregnant with twins, the hospital said. The fourth victim, a 15-year-old neighbour, was taken to Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat.
“We were sleeping and got up to the strike of a missile. The strike was strong,” said Mahmoud al-Muhtaseb, a neighbour.
“There was no prior warning.”
Another strike targeted a police vehicle on the south-north Philadelphi Corridor at the entrance of the central town of az-Zawayda, Gaza’s Interior Ministry said.
The attack killed nine police officers, including Colonel Iyad Ab Yousef, a senior police official in central Gaza, the ministry said.
Al-Aqsa Hospital, which received the bodies, confirmed the toll and said 14 other people were wounded.
The ministry condemned what it called a “heinous crime”, saying the officers had been monitoring markets and maintaining public order during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Sunday’s deaths were the latest among Palestinians in the coastal enclave since a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas attempted to halt Israel’s more than two-year war on Gaza.
Although the most intense fighting has subsided, near-daily Israeli attacks have continued. Israeli forces have also frequently fired on Palestinians near military-controlled zones.
More than 650 Palestinians have been killed since October 10, 2025, according to Gaza health officials.
Rafah crossing
Israel has announced it will partially reopen Gaza’s Rafah crossing with Egypt on Wednesday, ending a two-week shutdown that has deepened the humanitarian crisis in the besieged territory.
The Israeli military body overseeing civilian affairs in the occupied Palestinian territories, COGAT, said the crossing would resume operations on March 18 for limited passenger movement in both directions, with no cargo permitted.
Entry and exit will require prior Israeli security clearance, coordination with Egypt, and oversight from the European Union border mission that deployed there in early February.
The announcement comes as more than 20,000 sick and wounded Palestinians remain on waiting lists for medical treatment unavailable in Gaza.
Among them are roughly 4,000 cancer patients and about 4,500 children.
Nearly 440 of the cases are classified as immediately life-threatening.
Israel shut the crossing on February 28, the same day it and the United States launched strikes on Iran, citing security concerns.
The World Health Organization’s regional director for the Eastern Mediterranean warned this week that only about 200 aid trucks a day were entering Gaza, far short of the estimated requirement of 600 daily deliveries.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, nearly half of all essential medicines are out of stock, while two-thirds of medical supplies have run out.
Mohammed Salah, founder of the NGO Tech from Palestine, speaking from Deir el-Balah, said living conditions had worsened sharply since the war involving Iran began, with prices of basic supplies having “doubled or more than doubled”.
Meanwhile, a sandstorm recently swept across Gaza, tearing through makeshift shelters used by tens of thousands of Palestinians displaced by more than two years of conflict.
