Civil Defense announces the killing of 22 Palestinians in Israeli air strikes on Gaza.

 

The Civil Defense in Gaza announced the deaths of 22 people in Israeli airstrikes targeting areas in the Palestinian enclave at dawn on Monday, as the Jewish state announced an expansion of its air and ground attacks.

At least 22 martyrs were transported following raids launched at dawn today by Israeli warplanes in various areas of the Gaza Strip, a Civil Defense spokesman told AFP.

The highest death toll was recorded in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, where Basal reported 12 deaths, including five who died in "an attack on the Abu al-Rus family home in Hamad City," a residential area west of the city.

Five martyrs and three wounded were killed in an attack on a gathering near the al-Faluja market, west of Jabalia camp in the northern Gaza Strip, according to Basal, who confirmed that the dead and wounded were transferred to Kamal Adwan Hospital.

In addition, three members of the same family were killed "in an airstrike" on a tent for displaced people in the Nuseirat camp (central Gaza), while two people were killed when "an Israeli drone targeted a tent sheltering displaced people" in the Yarmouk area of ​​Gaza City (north).

Basal also spoke of reports of "a number of martyrs killed by Israeli occupation forces in the courtyard of the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza," stressing that they were unable to be reached due to "the continued siege and firing by Israeli forces."

The Hamas-run Ministry of Health said Sunday that the Israeli army was "besieging" the hospital and preventing access to patients and staff, putting it out of service. It added, "All public hospitals in the northern Gaza Strip are out of service."

On Monday, Israeli strikes hit "the vicinity of Nasser Hospital" in Khan Yunis, according to Basal, who noted that one of the strikes targeted "the security room and the medicine warehouse."

The Israeli army has not yet commented on the latest airstrikes.

The war broke out on October 7, 2023, following a surprise attack by Hamas on southern Israel.

The attack resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, the majority of whom were civilians, according to a tally by Agence France-Presse based on official Israeli data.

Of the 251 hostages taken during the attack, 57 remain in Gaza, including 34 who the Israeli military said were killed.

Since the start of the war, the death toll in Gaza has reached 53,339, according to the latest tally from the Hamas-run Health Ministry, including at least 3,193 deaths since Israel resumed its strikes on March 18, following a fragile two-month truce.