An Israeli strike hit the home where a displaced Palestinian family was sheltering in the southern city of Rafah, relatives and neighbors said as they scraped at the soil with their hands.

Al-Arja said the blast killed at least 10 people.

鈥淲e retrieved the remains of children and women, finding arms and feet. They were all torn to pieces.

鈥淭his is horrifying. It鈥檚 not normal,鈥� he said, hauling concrete and broken olive branches from the wreckage. 鈥淭he entire world is complicit.鈥�

Soon after the war began on Oct. 7, Israel told Palestinians living in the north of Gaza to move to 鈥渟afe zones鈥� in the territory鈥檚 south, like Rafah.

But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has since vowed to invade the city, where around 1.5 million people live in shelters, more than half the territory鈥檚 population.

鈥淗ow is Rafah a safe place?鈥� said Zeyad Ayyad, a relative of the victims. He sighed as he cradled a fragment of the remains.

鈥淚 heard the bombing last night and then went back to sleep. I did not think it hit my aunt鈥檚 house.鈥�

The search for remains was long and painful. The strike left a huge crater and children picked through the rubble while neighbors removed debris, tarpaulin, a pink top.

鈥淲e can see them under the rubble and we鈥檙e unable to retrieve them,鈥� Al-Arja said. 

鈥淭hese are people who came from the north because it was said the south is safe.鈥�

鈥淭hey struck without any warning,鈥� he said.

In a separate strike on the house in Rafah鈥檚 Al-Salam neighborhood overnight on Tuesday, rescue crews recovered the corpses of eight family members, including five children and two women, Gaza鈥檚 civil defense service said.

鈥淎n Israeli rocket hit a house of displaced people,鈥� said resident Sami Nyrab. 

鈥淢y sister鈥檚 son-in-law, her daughter, and her children were having dinner when an Israeli missile demolished their house over their heads.鈥�