Palestinians in Rafah describe 'night of horror' during Israeli hostage rescue

Palestinians in Rafah described a night of fear as Israeli attacks ravaged the area early Monday, killing and wounding dozens, Gaza's health ministry said, highlighting the cost of Israel's military operation to free its hostages.

“I swear to God it was an indescribable night,” said Ghada al-Kurd, 37, who is among more than a million people seeking shelter in the southern city of Gaza. “The bombings were everywhere – we were convinced that the Israeli army was invading Rafah.”

The Israeli army said early Monday it had launched a “wave of attacks” on Rafah to provide cover for soldiers who had freed two hostages held by Hamas. The Health Ministry in Gaza said at least 67 people had been killed in the strikes and the toll was likely to rise. The ministry's figures make no distinction between combatants and civilians.

Dr. Marwan al-Hamase, the director of Abu Yousef al-Najjar Hospital in Rafah, said the hospital had received 100 wounded overnight, along with the bodies of 52 dead.

Maher Abu Arar, a spokesman for Kuwait's Rafah Hospital, said the hospital had admitted at least 15 bodies and 50 injured people. “There were a lot of body parts,” Mr Abu Arar said, after “consecutive and sudden” Israeli attacks.

Ms al-Kurd said people in Rafah panicked and considered evacuating at night, but “no one even knew where to go.” She added in a voice message that her young nieces were “crying and I was trying to calm them down,” even though she was also “very scared.”

Gazans in Rafah are wondering whether to evacuate ahead of an expected Israeli ground offensive into the city. But many who have been displaced several times since the war began have said they have nowhere else to go.

Ms al-Kurd sent five short voice messages she recorded during the night, in which the sound of intense bombing and machine guns can be clearly heard. In the background of one of the shots, a young girl is crying and calling for her mother. In another message, Ms al-Kurd said: “The bombing was very close.”

“To put it simply, it was a night full of horrors, strikes, death and destruction,” said Akram al-Satri, 47, who is staying in the Shaboura refugee camp in Rafah. He said the strikes started there around 1 a.m. and “very violent clashes” took place. He added in a voice message on Monday morning that several houses and a mosque in the area had been destroyed.

“The explosions caused panic among men, women and children alike,” Mr al-Satri said. “The state of panic forced everyone to pack what they had, thinking that the ground invasion of Rafah had begun and that they would live what others have in Khan Younis, Gaza City and the north,” he added, noting listed areas of Gaza that Israeli ground forces have invaded in the past four months of war.

Iyad Abuheweila contributed reporting from Istanbul.