An Israeli airstrike on Tel al-Hawa, southwest Gaza City, killed an entire family sheltering in a tent near the University College early Wednesday. Seven members of the Abu Hanideq family, including five children, were pulled from the rubble by rescue teams from Al-Quds Hospital.

The massacre is part of Israel’s intensified campaign on southern Gaza City, where airstrikes, artillery fire and demolitions have left scores dead and driven yet more families from their homes. On the same day, health officials confirmed at least 12 Palestinians killed across Gaza, five of them struck while trying to collect food aid.

After 677 days of relentless war, Gaza’s civilian population is being starved and bombarded into despair. According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, at least 61,158 Palestinians have been killed and more than 151,000 wounded since October 2023. Among them are 227 who died from hunger, including 103 children. Human rights groups have described the siege and bombardment as collective punishment, warning of a deepening catastrophe.

The destruction of the Abu Hanideq family is another painful reminder that in Gaza no one is safe, not children, not parents, not entire families. Yet, amid the ruins, Palestinians continue to hold onto life, their resilience standing in defiance of a war that seeks to erase them.