Six month old baby is only survivor in the Israeli airstrike that killed 10 of its family members in Gaza
- May 15, 2021,
- Updated May 15, 2021, 12:21 AM IST
GAZA: A six-month-old baby was the sole survivor of an Israeli air raid in Gaza City early on Saturday that killed at least ten members of his family, the majority of whom were children.
After the conflict with Gaza's militant Hamas rulers exploded earlier this week, it was the deadliest single strike.
Mohammed Hadidi, the baby's father, said his wife and five children had gone to celebrate Eid al-Fitr with relatives. Three of the children, ages 6 to 14, were killed, and an 11-year-old is still missing. Only Omar, his six-month-old son, is known to have survived.
The infant was taken to Gaza's al-Shifaa Hospital, where he is being treated for a broken leg and wounds sustained during the attack.
Also Read: ULFA Chief Paresh Baruah Announces One Sided Ceasefire For 3 Months
His brothers and other relatives who were killed were kept later at the hospital's morgue.
Early Saturday, rocket fire from Gaza and Israeli bombardment of the blockaded Palestinian territories began, with an airstrike on a three-story house in a Gaza City refugee camp killing eight children and two women from an extended family.
After a night of violence in which militants fired about 200 rockets at Israeli towns, Israel's planes hit what it said were Hamas targets in Gaza, US and Arab diplomats were attempting to calm the situation.
According to Palestinian medics, at least 136 people have died in Gaza since clashes began on Monday, including 34 children and 21 women. Another 950 people have been injured.
Since Monday, Israel's military said 2,300 rockets have been launched from Gaza at Israel, with around 1,000 intercepted by missile defences and 380 falling into Gaza.
Hady Amr, deputy assistant secretary for Israel and Palestinian affairs under US President Joe Biden, reached in Israel on Friday, ahead of the UN Security Council meeting on Sunday. Washington says he wants to "reinforce the importance of working for a long-term calm."