The Palestinian Health Ministry says the death toll from an Israeli missile attack Wednesday on Gaza City’s Shuja’iyya neighborhood has risen to at least 35 people and is expected to rise. At least 55 people are wounded, and as many as 80 others still trapped under the rubble. Victims include children, some of them torn to pieces, as multiple missiles struck a residential block where Israel later claimed a senior Hamas fighter was staying, without naming them or providing evidence.

The killings came as Haaretz reported Israel’s army is preparing to incorporate the southern city of Rafah and surrounding neighborhoods into a buffer zone along Gaza’s border. Rafah comprises about 17% of Gaza’s territory; before October 2023, it was home to some 200,000 Palestinians. It’s now largely deserted after Israel in late March once again ordered the mass expulsion of the city’s residents.