At least 21 Palestinians were killed in the Gaza Strip early on Wednesday following a series of Israeli attacks targeting various areas of the devastated territory.
13 Palestinians were killed in one attack alone targeting the home of the Abdul Bari family in Khan Younis. One person was also killed after Israeli forces targeted a tent housing the displaced.
In the southern city of Rafah, five Palestinians were killed in two Israeli airstrikes. The first targeted the Miraj area, killing three members of the Abu Rizq family, and the second targeted the home of the Abu Sunaima family, killing two.
Deadly attacks also took place in the Nuseirat refugee camp.
This came after Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz vowed to expand the military operation in the Gaza Strip, saying the army would seize “large areas” of the Palestinian territory.
In a statement on Wednesday, Katz said the army would expand its presence in Gaza to “destroy and clear the area of terrorists and terrorist infrastructure”.
The expanded operation would “seize large areas that will be incorporated into Israeli security zones”, he said, without saying how much territory Israel would take.
The health ministry in Gaza said on Tuesday that 1,042 people had been killed in the territory since Israel resumed military operations last month, bringing the overall toll since the war began on October 7, 2023 to at least 50,399 people.
