At least 45 Palestinians were killed and many others wounded as the Israeli army continued its attacks across the blockaded Gaza Strip early Friday.
During an Israeli bombardment in al-Fukhari in the southern city of Khan Younis, 11 people were killed and dozens of others injured, Palestine’s official WAFA news agency reported.
Separately, Israel targeting a Palestinian residence in the city of Rafah, also in southern Gaza, led to the deaths of at least 20 people.
The bombing of the Al-Shabura refugee camp in Rafah also resulted in numerous casualties and injuries, although the exact number has not been determined yet.
Israel also launched an attack on the Al-Maghazi refugee camp in the central part of the Gaza Strip.
In airstrikes that targeted a mosque in the camp along with at least two houses, 14 people were killed.
later Friday, the Gazan Health Ministry said at least 21,507 people have been killed in the Palestinian territory since Israel launched it war nearly 12 weeks ago.
The figure includes 187 fatalities over the past 24 hours, a ministry statement said. It added that 55,915 people have been wounded in Gaza during the fighting.
Since the conflict erupted on Oct. 7, more than 80% of Gaza’s 2.4 million people have been driven from their homes, according to the United Nations.
The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said 308 people seeking shelter in their facilities have been killed during the war.
A total of 1,095 have been wounded while taking refuge at U.N. sites, UNRWA said on social media platform X.
‘Regret’
Earlier Thursday, The Israeli army expressed regret over the “harm to uninvolved individuals” caused by a recent strike on the Al-Maghazi refugee camp.
The Dec. 24 attack on the urban refugee camp left dozens of people dead. The Hamas-run Health Ministry put the toll at more than 70, with children among the victims. U.N. officials said 86 people were killed.
More than 33,000 people live in Al-Maghazi, which covers an area of 0.6 square kilometres, according to the U.N.
An Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman said Thursday that fighter jets had “struck two targets adjacent to which Hamas operatives were located on Dec. 24.”
“Before the strikes were carried out, steps were taken by the IDF to mitigate harm to uninvolved civilians in the area,” he continued.
“A preliminary investigation revealed that additional buildings located near the targets were also hit during the strikes, which likely caused unintended harm to additional uninvolved civilians.”
The incident is now being dealt with by a special committee within the army, which is responsible for investigating “exceptional incidents that occur during combat.”
Israel’s KAN broadcaster reported, citing an unnamed military official, that the investigation had revealed that the appropriate ammunition was not used in the attack, leading to the extensive damage.
“This could have been prevented if the right ammunition had been chosen for the operation,” the broadcaster reported.
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