Israeli betrayal: Gaza teenager family killed after seeking safety in south

When the Israeli army told Palestinians in the Beach refugee camp in Gaza to flee south because it was safer, 18-year-old Dima al Lamdani's family prayed they would escape relentless air strikes.

But days later, Lamdani was left to identify the bodies of her relatives at a makeshift morgue in the southern city of Khan Younis. She said she lost her parents, seven siblings and four members of her uncle's family in an Israeli air strike.

"They told us to evacuate your place and go to Khan Younis because it is safe... They betrayed us and bombed us," she said.

She said her family and that of her uncle travelled in two cars across Gaza, which has faced the heaviest bombardment of Israel since October 7.

Lamdani's family was staying at a temporary shelter in Khan Younis when she said: "At 4:30 AM I was awake and sitting with my aunt drinking coffee. Suddenly I woke up in the middle of ruins. Everyone around me was screaming, so I screamed."

Lamdani, the side of her face grazed and bruised, said after searching for her family members in the morgue on Oct. 17 that only her brother and two young cousins had survived.

"This is a nightmare. It will never be wiped from my memory," she said. "I had a sister, 16. They wrote my name on the white sheet they wrapped her body in, they thought it was me."

Limited aid

Humanitarian deliveries through Rafah began at the weekend after wrangling over inspection procedures and Israeli bombardments on the Gaza side of the border.

UN officials say about 100 trucks a day are needed to meet essential needs in Gaza. On Saturday and Sunday, 34 trucks passed through.

European Union leaders will call for a "humanitarian pause" in the Israel's war on Gaza so that aid for the enclave can safely reach those in need, draft conclusions of an EU summit showed.

Türkiye sent two cargo planes to Egypt on Monday carrying medical equipment and supplies for Gaza, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said, adding two more would be sent.

"Letting limited quantities of aid enter Gaza in the past two days doesn't answer the growing requirements of our people during the savage aggression and the ongoing blockade," Hamas said in a statement.

At one United Nations school in Khan Younis, Nasser Abu Amer, his wife and eight children, said they were desperate for food and water.

"What aid? They are giving us 2 canned food, what for? Breakfast, lunch and dinner for the children?" said Amer.