Rafah fishermen accuse Israel of dropping bombs on boats and attacking people

Palestinian fishermen in the southern city of Rafah have accused the Israeli army of shelling fishing boats and then firing on the people who came to extinguish the flames.

Heavy fighting has raged around Rafah, the last part of Gaza, to face an Israeli ground invasion.

The Gaza war was sparked by Hamas's unprecedented attack on October 7, which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 35,709 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.