Several killed as Israeli forces pound Gaza

Gaza, December 14

Israel pounded the length of the Gaza Strip on Thursday, killing families in their homes even as Washington sent an envoy to encourage its ally to guard better against civilian casualties in its war against Hamas militants. The more than two-month war is now raging across the entire Palestinian enclave, causing a humanitarian catastrophe, with little end in sight.

“It will require a long period of time – it will last more than several months – but we will win and we will destroy them,” Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant told visiting White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan.

In Rafah, jammed with people in makeshift tents on Gaza’s southern edge, people wept at a morgue where bodies of those killed in the latest strikes were wrapped in bloodied shrouds. Some were small children.

The adjacent homes of the Abu Dhbaa and Ashour families were obliterated and residents picked forlornly through rubble. Gaza health authorities said 26 people had been killed there. — Reuters