Rabie Abu Nqira, an eyewitness, said he was helping a crew remove rubble from the home using a bulldozer and another earth mover.
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An explosion that ripped through a house in the southern Gaza Strip Thursday killed four people and wounded dozens, an official said, but the cause of the blast was unclear.
Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said the ordnance exploded as Palestinian workers were helping family members remove rubble from a home destroyed during the 50-day war between Israel and the Hamas militants who rule the coastal territory.
According to medical sources in the Strip, up to 29 people were hurt when the unexploded shell blew up in Rafah. The outlet reported that the casualties were all members of the Abu Nikra family, aged between 18 and 38 years old. He was wounded in the explosion and his son and three other relatives were killed, witnesses said.
At least one Palestinian accused of collaborating with Israel has been sentenced to death this year in the occupied West Bank. The Israeli bombardment was carried out by F-16 jets, drones, helicopters and artillery, striking civilians as well as ambulances and vehicles evacuating those wounded in the attacks. On the Israeli side, 73 soldiers were killed.
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In a statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referred to the incident as terrorism, suggesting in doing so that the driver – whose identity and condition were not immediately published – was Palestinian.
