Palestinian man dies after Israeli bombing in Rafah
A Palestinian man has died from his injuries, four days after he was wounded by an Israeli air attack east of Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reports.
According to Wafa, Israeli bombardment of Rafah and the neighbouring city of Khan Younis continued on Sunday night, with Israeli gunboats firing machineguns towards the shore.
Israeli soldiers, stationed east of Beit Hanoon, in the north of the Gaza Strip, also fired machineguns towards the town, Wafa reports.
Earlier, we reported that Gaza officials said an Israeli drone attack killed three Palestinian police officers in Rafah, in what Hamas described as “a serious violation” of its ceasefire agreement with Israel.
Palestinians shelter in tents among the ruins of Jabalia
An aerial photograph taken by a drone shows tents between the destruction caused by the Israeli air and ground offensive in Jabalia in the north of the Gaza Strip, on Sunday
Jabalia is in the north of the Gaza Strip, which experienced heavy Israeli bombardment and multiple ground invasions
Israel’s truce violations continue to mount
The ceasefire agreement stipulates a full cessation of all military acts by both parties to the conflict, but today, we’ve seen several violations by Israel.
They deliberately targeted police vehicles in the city of Rafah as well as a civilian vehicle in the central part of the Strip.
Israel’s obstruction of all essential heavy machinery and mobile homes – which are still lined up on the Egyptian side of the border and are highly required here in order to alleviate the humanitarian crisis – is adding further pressure on regional mediators to implement the humanitarian protocol agreed in the ceasefire deal.
Meanwhile, civilians here are homeless and living in open spaces as they wait for the entry of those mobile homes. These homes are expected to provide shelter to hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians.
People here believe that as long as Israel continues to add further obstacles in the path for the next round of negotiations, the situation on the ground will get more complicated.
The sentiments here are quite charged, with fears and anxiety over the durability of the ceasefire, in light of these very unpredictable changes that we can see in the current agreement.
Rescue workers in Gaza left with nightmares
Our colleagues at AJ+ spoke to rescue workers in Gaza about their experiences pulling people from the rubble during the 15 months of relentless Israeli bombardment.
Ambulance officer Tamer Al-Hindi says he is still having nightmares.
“I often have nightmares about a child I saved, or an old man, or a pregnant woman, or a paralysed old woman,” he said. “There are many situations that haunt me even today.”
Rescue workers in Gaza are left with nightmares about the children they rescued, and those they couldn’t, after 15 months of unrelenting Israeli bombardment.
“The last [nightmare] I had was about a child with an amputated leg.” pic.twitter.com/b9Ep5Ssce9
— AJ+ (@ajplus) February 16, 2025
Two Palestinians succumb to wounds in Gaza’s south
The slain Palestinians were wounded by Israeli forces two days earlier, Wafa reports. One was wounded by live bullets in Rafah, while the other sustained wounds following an air attack in Khan Younis, it said.
Israeli army targets vehicles in Gaza, urges residents to follow checkpoint routes
Israeli jets have targeted “suspicious vehicles” going north from central Gaza Strip “on a route that is not approved for vehicle traffic, without passing through the checkpoint route, contrary to the agreed outline”, the Israeli army has said.
“The IDF once again calls on Gaza residents to obey IDF instructions, not to approach the forces deployed in the area and to pass through the agreed checkpoint routes,” it added in a post on X.
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