Israeli strikes in the northern and central Gaza Strip on Wednesday killed at least 33 Palestinians, most of them in Beit Lahiya town in the north of the enclave, medics said.
Health officials said an Israeli airstrike on a house in Beit Lahiya killed at least 22 people, including women and children. Relatives listed the names of the dead on social media.
The Palestinian news agency WAFA said at least 30 people were living in the multi-story building before it was struck, adding that several members of the family remained missing as rescue operations continued through morning hours.
The Israeli military told Reuters it had launched a strike targeting Hamas militants near the Kamal Adwan Hospital, which is located between Beit Lahiya and Jabalia, towns on the northern edge of Gaza under Israeli siege for two months.
It said it was continuing to examine the incident but described the number of fatalities reported by Palestinian
medics and media as “inaccurate” and not aligning with the army’s information.
Earlier on Wednesday, at least seven Palestinians were killed and several others wounded in an Israeli airstrike on a house in the Nuseirat camp in the central part of the Gaza Strip, medics told Reuters.
The Palestinian Civil Emergency Service and medics said four other people were killed in separate Israeli airstrikes on two houses in Gaza City, including journalist Eman Al-Shanti and her son. She was the 193rd journalist killed by Israel since the start of the war, the Palestinian Union of Journalists said.
In Beit Hanoun town in northern Gaza Strip, where the Israeli forces have operated since October, medics said an Israeli airstrike killed and wounded several people. Rescue workers said several people were trapped under the rubble of a house.
The Israeli military said in a statement that two rockets were fired from the central Gaza Strip into Israel, but fell in open areas and caused no injuries. It signalled the ability of Gaza militants to continue to stage rocket attacks despite 14 months of devastating Israeli aerial and military offensives.
Israeli forces have been operating in Beit Hanoun, the nearby town of Beit Lahiya, and the Jabalia refugee camp since Oct. 5, fighting Hamas militants waging attacks from those areas and preventing them from regrouping.
Palestinian officials and residents accuse Israel of depopulating the two towns and refugee camp on the northern edge of the enclave to create a buffer zone, something Israel denies.
Israel launched its air and ground war in Gaza after Hamas-led fighters attacked Israeli communities across the border 14 months ago, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.
Gaza’s Health Ministry says that Israel’s military campaign since then has killed more than 44,400 Palestinians and injured countless others. The Palestinian civil emergency service estimates that the bodies of 10,000 people may be trapped under the rubble, which would take the reported death toll to more than 50,000.
