12 February 2024 Rafah strikes

On 12 February 2024, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched a series of airstrikes on Rafah, a city in the Gaza Strip, alongside a covert hostage rescue operation. The strikes killed over 83 people, destroying at least one mosque and multiple inhabited homes, killing most or all of their occupants in several cases. Estimates of the death toll varied by source: the Palestinian Health Ministry put the figure at at least 94, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society estimated over 100, and the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor compiled a named list of 83 dead, including 29 children.

The Associated Press reported that airstrikes began at 1:50am local time, one minute after a hostage rescue operation began in the Shaboura area of Rafah. The Israeli military said it conducted strikes on targets in Shaboura, while Rafah municipal officials said at least two mosques and about a dozen homes were struck. Satellite imagery analysis indicated the strikes extended beyond the Shaboura area. Israeli military spokesman Major Nir Dinar described the strikes' purpose as hitting Hamas command centers, confusing militants, severing communication between hostage captors and their commanders, and providing cover for the rescue. Axios reported the strikes killed at least 67 civilians.

Locations struck included the Al-Huda mosque and the homes of the Abu-Jazar, Hassouna, and Al-Shaer families. Eighteen members of the Abu-Jazar family were killed in the Badr refugee camp, including an infant and three young cousins. Eight members of the Hassouna family, who had rented a house after fleeing violence elsewhere in Gaza, were killed when their home was destroyed; among the dead was Sidra Hassouna, whose body was left hanging from a wall, with images circulating widely on social media. The Hassounas were relatives of the Palestinian Ambassador to the UK, Husam Zomlot. Eight members of the Al-Shaer family, across three generations, were also killed in their home.

The hostage rescue, described by IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari as beginning around 1:49am, resulted in the freeing of two dual Israeli-Argentine citizens, Fernando Marman (60) and Luis Har (70), who had been kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak. Two IDF soldiers were killed during the roughly hour-long operation.

The strikes drew international attention partly because they coincided with Super Bowl LVIII in the United States, leading commentator Dave Zirin to refer to the events as the "Super Bowl Massacre." A Hamas spokesperson described the strikes as "horrific massacres against defenseless civilians." The International Criminal Court's prosecutor, Karim Khan, said reports from Rafah were cause for deep concern regarding compliance with the laws of armed conflict. The events occurred amid a broader Israeli proposal for a ground invasion of Rafah, which had drawn concern from the European Union and United Nations due to the presence of an estimated 1.4 million displaced Palestinians sheltering in the city.