A pregnant woman and her young son were killed in Gaza by an Israeli airstrike

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Afnan al-Ghanam of Gaza had her first child during war, 13 months ago, while the family was still living at home.

She was about to give birth again in the spring — this time, while living in a squalid tent camp. But at least a tenuous ceasefire had brought a relative calm.

Then, before dawn on Tuesday, an Israeli airstrike smashed into the family’s tent. Al-Ghanam, who was seven months pregnant, and Mohammed, her young son, were both killed.

They were among more than 400 Palestinians, most of them women and children, killed when Israel launched a surprise bombardment across the Gaza Strip, according to the territory’s Health Ministry. Israel said it struck Hamas targets to force the militant group to free hostages and relinquish control of Gaza.

“This is their bank of targets,” said al-Ghanam’s husband, Alaa Abu Helal, as he held Mohammed’s little body, wrapped in cloth, at the morgue of Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis. “He was born during the war in difficult conditions and also martyred in the war.”

“Their targets are innocents, pure. They have barely seen life,” he said, fighting his tears.

Israel's aerial assault shattered the ceasefire that began in mid-January and stunned Palestinians who had finally had a breather to start trying to rebuild their lives after 15 months of bombardment, ground offensives, dispersal and hunger.

Israel launched its campaign in Gaza in retaliation for Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks in southern Israel. It says it does not target civilians, and blames Hamas for their deaths, saying it operates among the population.

Abu Helal said he was visiting the family's home in Gaza’s southernmost city Rafah when the strike hit the family's tent in Muwasi, a sprawling camp for displaced families outside Khan Younis. Their home in Rafah had been damaged during the war, and he had wanted to check in on it to ensure it had not been looted.

The 20-year-old al-Ghanam and Mohammed had stayed behind in Muwasi. "They have gone and left me alone,” he said. “The unborn child is dead, too.”

Mohammed was born in Rafah. Soon after, the family was forced to flee the city in May, when Israeli troops ordered a mass evacuation and stormed the city. The offensive flattened much of the city as troops battled Hamas fighters.

“You flee during the war to keep your family and children safe. But then, here, he’s dead,” Abu Helal said. “All of them are dead.”

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AP correspondents Lee Keath and Samy Magdy in Cairo contributed to this report.