[RIA] After Israeli shelling of the Gaza Strip, 12 family members of RT cameraman Khaled Elderra were killed, Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of the Rossiya Segodnya and RT media group, reported on the Telegram channel.
"Our cameraman Khaled Elderra lost 12 family members after Israeli shelling of the Gaza Strip. Among the dead were Khaled's brother, two sisters, four nephews, an aunt and cousins," she wrote.
Early on the morning of October 7, air raid sirens sounded in southern and central Israel.
On the morning of October 7, Israel was subjected to an unprecedented-scale rocket attack from the Gaza Strip as part of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, announced by the military wing of the Palestinian Hamas movement. After massive rocket attacks, the organization’s fighters penetrated into the border areas in the south of the Jewish state.
In response, the Israel Defense Forces launched Operation Iron Swords against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Within days of the attack, the Israeli military took control of all settlements near the Gaza border and began conducting air strikes on targets, including civilians, in the strip. Israel also announced a complete blockade of the Gaza Strip: the supply of water, food, electricity, medicine, and fuel was suspended.
The number of victims in the Gaza Strip has reached 3,785 people, including 1,524 children and a thousand women, the local Ministry of Health reported. In Israel, according to local authorities, more than 1,300 people were killed. According to various estimates, up to 250 people may be held captive by Hamas.