Israeli attacks kill 13 in Gaza, including 2 children and a pregnant woman

Meanwhile, more than 20,000 patients await evacuation as the Rafah crossing is set to partially reopen on Wednesday.A powerful sandstorm sweeps across the Gaza Strip, worsening the already difficult living conditions for displaced Palestinians [Moiz Salhi/Anadolu]Published On 15 Mar 2026Israeli air strikes have killed at least 13 Palestinians including two boys, a pregnant woman, and nine police officers in war-torn Gaza.An attack on Sunday hit a house in the urban refugee camp of Nuseirat in central Gaza, killing four people, including a couple in their 30s and their 10-year-old son, according to the nearby Al-Aqsa Hospital.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4‘We killed dogs’: Israeli troops kill two children, parents in West Banklist 2 of 4How Trump’s unchecked power has changed the worldlist 3 of 4Why is NYC’s Mamdani facing criticism over response to attacks on wife?list 4 of 4Jan Egeland: Millions displaced as Middle East conflicts deepenend of listThe woman was pregnant with twins, the hospital said. The fourth person who died, a 15-year-old neighbour, was taken to the al-Awda hospital in Nuseirat.“We were sleeping and got up to the strike of a missile. The strike was strong,” said Mahmoud al-Muhtaseb, a neighbour. “There was no prior warning.”Another strike hit a police vehicle on the south-north Philadelphi Corridor at the entrance of the central town of az-Zawayda, the Interior Ministry said.The bombing killed nine police officers, including Colonel Iyad Ab Yousef, a senior police official in central Gaza, the ministry said.The Al-Aqsa Hospital, which received the bodies, confirmed the toll. It said 14 others were wounded.The ministry said it “condemns the heinous crime committed by the Israeli occupation this afternoon when it bombed a police vehicle… The officers and personnel were performing their duties monitoring markets and maintaining security and order during the holy month of Ramadan”.There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on either strike.Sunday’s deaths were the latest among Palestinians in the coastal enclave since a “ceasefire” deal between Israel and Hamas attempted to halt Israel’s more than two-year genocidal war on Gaza.While the heaviest fighting has subsided, there are still near-daily Israeli attacks. Aside from the Israeli air strikes, its forces frequently fire on Palestinians near Israeli military-held zones. More than 650 Palestinians have been killed since October 10, 2025, according to Gaza health officials.Rafah crossing allegedly to reopenIsrael has announced it will partially reopen Gaza’s Rafah crossing with Egypt on Wednesday, ending a two-week shutdown that has deepened an already catastrophic humanitarian crisis in the besieged territory.The Israeli military body overseeing civilian affairs in the occupied Palestinian territory, COGAT, said the crossing would resume operations on March 18 for limited passenger movement in both directions, with no cargo permitted.Entry and exit will require prior Israeli security clearance, coordination with Egypt, and oversight from the European Union border mission that deployed there in early February.The announcement comes as more than 20,000 sick and wounded Palestinians, among them roughly 4,000 cancer patients and 4,500 children, remain on waiting lists for medical treatment unavailable in Gaza.Of those, nearly 440 cases are classified as immediately life-threatening.Israel shut the crossing on February 28, the same day it and the United States launched strikes on Iran, citing “security” reasons.The World Health Organization’s regional director for the Eastern Mediterranean warned this week that only about 200 trucks a day were entering Gaza, far short of the estimated daily requirement of 600.According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, nearly half of all essential medicines are out of stock, while two-thirds of medical supplies have run dry.Mohammed Salah, founder of the NGO Tech from Palestine, speaking from Deir el-Balah, told Al Jazeera that living conditions had deteriorated sharply since the war on Iran began, with prices for basic supplies having “doubled or more than doubled”.Meanwhile, a sandstorm recently swept across Gaza tearing through makeshift shelters for tens of thousands of Palestinians already displaced by more than two years of war.