A Palestinian man holds his wounded child as they receive medical attention at a hospital following an Israeli airstrike on Rafah on Friday late. — AP RAFAH (Gaza Strip), Apr 20 (Agencies): An Israeli airstrike on a house in Gaza's southernmost city killed at least nine people, six of them children, hospital authorities said Saturday, as Israel pursued its nearly seven-month offensive in the besieged Palestinian territory. Israel's war against the Islamic militant group Hamas has led to a dramatic escalation of tensions in an already volatile Middle East.
The strike Friday late hit a residential building in the western Tel Sultan neighborhood of the city of Rafah, according to Gaza's civil defence. The bodies of the six children, two women and a man were taken to Rafah's Abu Yousef Al-Najjar hospital, the hospital's records showed.
At the hospital, relatives cried and hugged the bodies of the children, wrapped in white shrouds, as others comforted them.
The fatalities included Abdel-Fattah Sobhi Radwan, his wife Najlaa Ahmed Aweidah and their three children, his brother-in-law Ahmed Barhoum said. Barhoum also lost his wife, Rawan Radwan, and their 5-year-old daughter Alaa.
Meanwhile, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh ended their meeting in Istanbul on Saturday after more than two and a half hours of talks, Turkish media reported.
Haniyeh was received at the Dolmabahce palace with his delegation, including a key member of the Palestinian militant group, Khaled Mashal, according to photographs released by the Turkish presidency.
Blast at Iraq army base kills one, wounds others
One person was killed and eight wounded in an overnight explosion at an Iraqi military base housing a coalition of pro-Iranian armed groups, officials said Saturday.
The full details remain unclear hours after the blast hit the Kalsu military base in Babylon province south of Baghdad, where regular army, police and members of Iraq's Popular Mobilisation Forces, or Hashed al-Shaabi, are stationed.
It comes days after Iran launched an unprecedented assault on Israel which reportedly responded with a drone strike on the Islamic republic, amid tensions fuelled by the Gaza war.
Iran's FM downplays drone attack, says Tehran investigating
Iran's foreign minister on Friday said Tehran was investigating an overnight attack on Iran, adding that so far a link to Israel had not been proven as he downplayed the strike.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian told NBC News the drones took off from inside Iran and flew for a few hundred meters before being downed.
"They're ... more like toys that our children play with, not drones," Amirabdollahian said.
"It has not been proved to us that there is a connection between these and Israel," he said, adding that Iran was investigating the matter but that media reports were not accurate, according to Tehran's information.
China's FM says admitting Palestinian state to UN is move to rectify injustice
China's foreign minister Wang Yi on Saturday said efforts to admit a Palestinian state into the United Nations were a move to rectify a prolonged injustice, state media Xinhua reported.
He made the comments at a joint press conference with his Papua New Guinea counterpart during a visit to country.
The United States on Thursday effectively stopped the UN from recognizing a Palestinian state by casting a veto in the Security Council to deny Palestinians full membership of the world body.
"A prompt admission of Palestine into the United Nations is a move to rectify a prolonged historical injustice," Xinhua quoted Wang as saying.
Saudi Arabia expresses regret over failure on Palestine's bid for UN membership
Saudi Arabia expressed its regret for at the failure of United Nations Security Council adopting a resolution accepting full membership of Palestine in the UN.
In an official statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on social media platform X, the Kingdom said the 'failure to adopt the resolution allows for the Israeli occupation to continue its violations if international law without deterrence and will not bring the desired peace closer."
The ministry renewed the Kingdom's call for the international community assume its responsibility towards stopping the Israeli occupation's attacks on civilians in Gaza.
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