Scores of Palestinian citizens, including many children and women, were killed on Thursday while others were injured or reported missing as Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza enters its 216th day.
The Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza said in a statement that at least 60 Palestinians were killed and 110 injured in a series of attacks carried out by Israeli warplanes, artillery, and naval forces, which targeted various areas of the Gaza Strip.
Several casualties resulted from airstrikes on homes in the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood in eastern Gaza City.
According to the official Palestinian news agency WAFA, some victims remain trapped under the rubble of destroyed buildings.
The intensity of the missile and artillery bombardment near the Ali bin Abi Talib Mosque and along Street 8 caused significant destruction, with ambulances unable to reach the affected areas.
AL-JAZEERA: An Israeli raid targeted a house on Al-Madhaa Street in the Al-Geneina neighborhood, east of the city of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip, where the occupation is intensifying its bombing of homes.
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In the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood, ten homes near the Hassan Al-Banna Mosque and the University of Gaza were bombed, leading to the displacement of thousands of citizens.
Israeli aircraft also targeted civilians in other Gaza City neighborhoods, including Al-Zaytoun, Tal Al-Hawa, and Al-Sabra. The Israeli navy fired shells and bullets at homes in Al-Sheikh Ajlin and Tal al-Hawa, resulting in casualties.
In the Al-Sabra neighborhood, a house owned by the Abu Sharia family was bombed, leaving victims trapped under the rubble.
Meanwhile, in Deir al-Balah, a woman and her son were killed due to a house bombing.
In Rafah, eight civilians, including three children and an infant, were killed when the Eid family home was targeted by Israeli aircraft.
The occupation forces continued their attacks near the Rafah border crossing, firing shells toward eastern regions.
GAZA HEALTH MINISTRY: 34,904 Palestinians have been killed, and 78,514 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7.
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Additionally, naval boats fired machine guns at western areas of Rafah, and the occupation artillery renewed its shelling of the Rafah municipality building, causing further destruction.
A fisherman was shot dead by the occupation forces while on the beach in Khan Yunis.
Staggering Death Toll
Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 34,904 Palestinians have been killed, and 78,514 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7.
Moreover, at least 7,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.
(PC, WAFA)
