More than 60 people were killed in Israeli air strikes on the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, according to what the Palestinian Red Crescent Society announced Monday morning.
CNN cannot independently verify the numbers.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said that the city, where more than half of Gaza’s population seeks refuge, was subjected to “intense targeting” by warplanes and air strikes.
Helicopters also fired machine guns along the border areas, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent. Rafah is located near the Gaza border with Egypt.
The Israeli army confirmed on Monday that it had carried out a “series of strikes” on targets in the Shaboura area in Rafah Governorate, saying in a statement that “the strikes had ended.”
A mosque in Shaboura was among the targets of the Israeli raids, according to the Rafah municipality.
The Hamas-run Al-Aqsa TV channel reported that two mosques were targeted, in addition to 14 homes in different areas of Rafah on Monday.
The director of Abu Youssef Al-Najjar Hospital said that the medical facilities in Rafah “cannot accommodate the large number of injuries resulting from the Israeli occupation bombing.”
According to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, residents are trapped under the rubble, and there is still a heavy presence of warplanes in the skies of Rafah.
Some context: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ignored growing criticism over plans for a ground offensive in Rafah, where more than 1.3 million people have taken refuge, many of whom have already been displaced from other parts of the enclave and say they have nowhere to go.
This post has been updated with the Israeli army confirming the raids on Rafah.
