Israeli airstrike kills Gaza mother as three-year-old daughter survives fire

A three-year-old Palestinian girl survived a fire caused by an Israeli airstrike on a residential flat in the western Gaza City neighbourhood of al-Rimal early on Wednesday, but her mother was killed.

The body of Reem Asaad Awad, 33, and two injured people, including a child, were taken to al-Shifa Hospital, a medical source said. A journalist said the airstrike occurred at around 4am local time.

Local sources said the strike hit a flat in the al-Amin building near the Abu Talal junction in al-Rimal, causing extensive damage to the flat and neighbouring buildings. A large fire broke out and was later extinguished by civil defence teams.

Witnesses said the flames spread rapidly through the flat and civil defence crews were initially unable to reach it. Palestinian media reported that journalist Ali al-Jaafrawi, who filmed the incident, reached the girl, Maryam Ghanem, and carried her out of the flat before handing her over to people at the scene to take her to hospital.

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Al-Jaafrawi said he later learned that the girl’s father had been killed early in the war and that her mother was killed in Wednesday’s airstrike, leaving her an orphan.

Israel said it was investigating the strike and claimed it had targeted a Hamas operative, but provided no evidence to support the claim.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) called on members of the US Congress to condemn Israel over the incident.

The strike comes amid continued violations of the Gaza ceasefire agreement. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, the violations had killed 1,498 Palestinians and injured 5,306 others by Tuesday.

The ceasefire was agreed in October last year as part of a US plan to end the war. However, talks on the second phase have stalled. The next phase includes the withdrawal of Israeli forces and the disarmament of Hamas.

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