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The military didn’t comment on this attack but said it “follows international law and takes feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm”.
Of the 14 people killed in the Abu Anza house, six were children and four were women, according to Dr Marwan al-Hams, director of the hospital where the bodies were taken. In addition to her husband and children, Rania also lost a sister, a nephew, a pregnant cousin and other relatives.
Farouq Abu Anza, a relative, said about 35 people were staying at the house, some of whom had been displaced from other areas. He said they were all civilians, mostly children, and that there were no militants among them.
Rania and her husband, Wissam, both 29, spent a decade trying to get pregnant. Two rounds of IVF had failed, but after a third, she learnt she was pregnant early last year. The twins were born on October 13.
Her husband, a day labourer, was so proud he insisted on naming the girl after himself, she said.
“I didn’t get enough of them,” she said. “I swear I didn’t get enough of them.”
As of February 29, more than 30,000 people had been killed in Gaza since the start of the war on October 7, according to the territory’s Health Ministry. Credit: Getty Images
Less than a week before their birth, Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel in a surprise attack, rampaging through communities, killing some 1200 people – mostly civilians – and taking about 250 hostages, including children and a newborn.
Israel responded with one of the deadliest and most destructive military campaigns in recent history.
The war has killed more than 30,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. About 80 per cent of the strip’s population of 2.3 million have fled their homes, and a quarter faces starvation.
Negotiations on edge
US Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday (AEDT) demanded Hamas agree to an immediate six-week ceasefire while forcefully urging Israel to do more to boost aid deliveries into Gaza, where she said innocent people were suffering a humanitarian catastrophe.
Harris pressed the Israeli government and outlined specific ways on how more aid can flow into the densely populated enclave where hundreds of thousands of people are facing famine after five months of Israel’s military campaign.
“Given the immense scale of suffering in Gaza, there must be an immediate ceasefire,” Harris said at an event in Alabama. “There is a deal on the table, and as we have said, Hamas needs to agree to that deal. Let’s get a ceasefire.”
“People in Gaza are starving. The conditions are inhumane and our common humanity compels us to act ... The Israeli government must do more to significantly increase the flow of aid. No excuses,” she said.
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A Hamas delegation has arrived in Cairo for the latest round of ceasefire talks, billed by many as the final possible hurdle for a truce, but it was unclear if any progress has been made. Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth’s online version reported that Israel boycotted the talks after Hamas rejected its demand for a complete list naming hostages who are still alive.
Washington has insisted the ceasefire deal is close and has been pushing to put in place a truce by the start of Ramadan in a week’s time. A US official said Israel has agreed on a framework deal.
An agreement would bring the first extended truce of the war, after just a week-long pause in November. Dozens of hostages held by Hamas militants would be freed in return for hundreds of Palestinian detainees.
AP, Reuters
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