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by IMEMC News
Dec 7, 2025

A Palestinian child was killed on Sunday by Israeli occupation fire outside the designated deployment zone in al-Mawasi, Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, underscoring the fragility of the “ceasefire” and the continuing toll on civilians.

Medical sources confirmed the girl’s death, describing it as yet another violation of the supposed safe areas declared by the Israeli military.

Medical sources identified the slain Palestinian child as 3-year-old ‘Ahed al-Bayouk in Al-Mawasi area of Rafah, southern Gaza.

The tragedy comes as Gaza’s health authorities report a staggering 70,360 Palestinians killed since the beginning of the genocide in Gaza on October 7, 2023. The majority of victims are women and children.

Injuries have climbed to 171,047, with thousands still missing beneath rubble that rescue teams cannot reach due to bombardment damage and restrictions on equipment.

Although a “ceasefire” was announced on October 11, violations have been relentless. In the past 24 hours alone, eight more Palestinians were killed and 17 wounded.

Since the ceasefire began, at least 373 people have been killed and 970 injured, while civil defense teams have recovered 624 bodies from destroyed neighborhoods.

The killing of the child in Rafah reflects a broader pattern of attacks in areas designated as “safe zones.”

The Ministry of Health in Gaza warns that zero stock levels of medicines and medical supplies continue to exceed catastrophic thresholds.

Current data shows that 52 percent of essential medicines, 71 percent of medical consumables, and 70 percent of laboratory supplies are completely depleted. This crisis is escalating as the need for urgent medical interventions for the wounded and sick grows daily.

Primary healthcare, surgical operations, intensive care, oncology, and hematology services are among the most severely affected, with critical shortages in essential medicines undermining the ability to provide life-saving treatment.

Departments of orthopedics, nephrology and dialysis, ophthalmology, general surgery, and intensive care units are facing unprecedented challenges due to the lack of medical consumables, leaving medical teams unable to meet even the most basic needs of patients.

The Ministry stresses that the situation is worsening rapidly and calls for the immediate and urgent reinforcement of medical supplies. Without swift action

In addition, witnesses reported Israeli drones striking tents in al-Mawasi, killing five people including two children earlier this week.

Hospitals in Khan Younis and Rafah continue to receive casualties from such strikes, often involving families who had already been displaced multiple times.

In Gaza City, medical teams and families on Sunday carried out the solemn task of exhuming bodies from temporary graves inside the Baptist Hospital compound, transferring them for reburial in an official cemetery.

Hospital staff explained that during the height of Israeli bombardment, when access to cemeteries was impossible and morgues were overwhelmed, dozens of victims were buried hastily in hospital courtyards.

With a relative lull in bombardment and limited access restored, civil defense crews and relatives began the process of respectfully relocating the remains.

Families gathered to accompany their loved ones on this second journey to a proper resting place, describing the moment as both heartbreaking and dignified.

Witnesses said the atmosphere was heavy with grief but also relief, as relatives could finally mark graves in a cemetery and ensure the martyrs were laid to rest in accordance with tradition.

This reburial effort is part of a wider campaign across Gaza to recover and properly bury victims who were placed in makeshift graves at hospitals, schools, and even private yards during the most intense phases of the war.

Civil defense officials note that hundreds of bodies remain in temporary sites or under rubble, awaiting retrieval once conditions allow.

Medical staff in Gaza warn of worsening conditions for children, with cases of severe malnutrition and untreated injuries mounting.

Aid agencies, including UNRWA and UNICEF, have sounded alarms over starvation, exposure to winter cold, and the lack of medical supplies.

Ambulances and paramedics themselves have been targeted, with crews detained at military roadblocks and equipment confiscated.

The humanitarian crisis is compounded by restrictions on aid entry. Relief convoys remain far below the levels promised under ceasefire terms, leaving hospitals without fuel and families without food.

Civil defense officials estimate more than 11,000 people remain missing, many believed to be trapped under collapsed buildings.

The Rafah incident is not isolated. Similar attacks have been documented in northern Gaza, including strikes on Maghazi refugee camp.

The killing of a child in Rafah on Sunday is emblematic of the ongoing violations that have defined this war: civilians targeted in supposed safe zones, aid obstructed, and families left to mourn under rubble.

Despite “ceasefire declarations,” the reality on the ground remains one of ongoing violations and dispossession, with Gaza’s children bearing the heaviest burden.

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