12 killed in strikes in Gaza; joint UK-US airstrikes targeting Houthi kill 16

Jerusalem: At least a dozen people were killed in two airstrikes Friday in central Gaza. Two children and four women were among the dead.

Palestinians in the border city of Rafah have reported heavy fighting in recent days as Israel’s military widened its offensive in the south, seizing control of the entire length of Gaza’s border with Egypt. Fighting in Rafah has spurred more than 1 million Palestinians to flee, most of whom had already been displaced earlier in the war. They now seek refuge in makeshift tent camps and other war-ravaged areas, where they lack shelter, food, water and other essentials for survival, the United Nations says.

Joint British-United States airstrikes targeting Yemen’s Houthi rebels killed at least 16 people and wounded 42 others, the rebels said Friday. That’s the highest publicly acknowledged death toll from the multiple rounds of strikes carried out over the rebels’ attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, demanding that Israel end the war in Gaza.

The Israel-Hamas war has killed more than 36,000 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between combatants and civilians. Israel launched its war in Gaza after Hamas’ October 7 attack in which militants stormed into southern Israel, killed some 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and abducted about 250. Israel says around 100 hostages are still captive in Gaza, along with the bodies of around 30 more.

In an aggressive meeting Thursday, Israel’s national security adviser told hostage families that the government wasn’t ready to sign a deal to bring all of the hostages home and that there was no plan B.

Gil Dickmann, who’s cousin Carmel is being held hostage, told The Associated Press that during a face-to-face meeting with Tzachi Hanegbi and several hostage families, they were told the government wasn’t prepared to end the war to bring their loved ones back.

“I said: Does that mean that we’re doomed, we’re lost?’ He said, yes,” said Dickmann.

The remarks came a day after the official said he expects the war to drag on for another seven months, in order to destroy the military and governing capabilities of Hamas and the smaller Islamic Jihad militant group.

Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mainly civilians, and abducted around 250 others in the October 7 attack. Around half of those hostages have since been freed, most in swaps for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.