The number of victims from the massacre resulting from the Israeli surprise attack on the Nusseirat camp in the Gaza Strip on Saturday has risen to 1,000, including both dead and injured, in exchange for the release of four Israeli prisoners. Residents and media reported, "Israeli forces bombarded central Gaza again on Sunday, a day after 274 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli attack aimed at rescuing Israeli prisoners. Tanks advanced in other areas of Rafah in an attempt to seal off part of the city located in the southern Gaza Strip."
Paramedics noted that Palestinians remain in shock due to the death toll from Saturday, which is one of the highest recorded in a 24-hour period throughout the months-long Gaza war. Among the dead are a significant number of women and children. The Gaza health ministry updated on Sunday, stating that 274 Palestinians were killed—up from 210 in Saturday's reports—and 698 others were injured during the raid by Israeli special forces on the overcrowded Nusseirat camp in an operation to rescue four hostages held by Hamas since October.
For its part, the Israeli army announced that an officer from the special forces was killed in a gunfight with militants, noting awareness of "less than 100" Palestinians killed, but without knowing how many of them were militants or civilians. Three Palestinians were killed, and several others injured in an Israeli airstrike on a house in Al-Bureij in central Gaza, while tanks pounded parts of the adjacent Maghazi and Nusseirat refugee camps, which have long existed.
The Israeli army stated in a statement that its forces continue operations east of Al-Bureij and the city of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, resulting in the deaths of several Palestinian militants and the destruction of militant infrastructure. Israel sent troops to Rafah in May as part of an operation it claimed aimed to eliminate the last fully operational combat cells of Hamas after eight months of war, during which Israeli forces bombed most other areas in the Gaza Strip, turning them into rubble amidst fierce resistance.
Since then, Israel has taken control of the entire land border of the Palestinian territory last month, including the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, and raided several neighborhoods in Rafah, forcing nearly a million displaced people to flee the city to other locations. On Sunday, tanks advanced into two new areas in a clear attempt to completely encircle the entire eastern side of Rafah. Residents trapped in their homes reported that this led to clashes with Palestinian factions.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) indicated that as of June 5, all displaced persons who had fled to eastern Rafah from Israeli attacks in northern Gaza had left, except for about 100,000. The agency stated, "All UNRWA shelters in Rafah have been evacuated. Many who were residing in Rafah fled to the coast in search of safer locations in Khan Younis and central Gaza."
