44 Palestinians killed in Israeli air raids in Gaza: sources

Gaza: At least 44 Palestinians were killed in two Israeli airstrikes in the northern Gaza Strip, Palestinian sources said Sunday.

Palestinian security sources said an Israeli aircraft bombed and completely destroyed a house housing displaced people in the Jabalia area.

Palestinian medical sources told Xinhua that 36 Palestinians, including 13 children, were killed and dozens of others wounded in the airstrike.

In another attack on Gaza City, an Israeli airstrike killed Wael al-Khor, director of social development in Gaza City, and seven other members of his family, including his wife and children, according to Palestinian medics.

In a statement on Sunday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that its troops continue operational activities in Jabalia and that over the past day, its troops killed dozens of militants and dismantled many infrastructure sites, as well as a weapons storage facility, in the area.

The troops also continue operational activities in the town of Beit Lahia in northern Gaza, have killed dozens of “terrorists” in cooperation with the Air Force, and located weaponry and a tunnel shaft in the area, the IDF said.

Also on Sunday, the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, said in a statement that its members targeted a group of 15 Israeli soldiers with an anti-personnel bomb and killed them from zero distance with weapons and hand grenades west of the Al-Shimaa area, north of Beit Lahia.

In a separate statement, the Qassam Brigades said its fighters targeted two Israeli armored personnel carriers with a “Yassin 105” missile and a bulldozer with shells in the Jabalia refugee camp.

The Israeli army has not commented on the alleged attacks by Hamas yet.

Israel has been launching a large-scale offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip to retaliate against a Hamas rampage through the southern Israeli border on October 7, 2023, during which about 1,200 people were killed and about 250 taken hostage.

The Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks in Gaza has risen to 43,603, Gaza-based health authorities said in a statement on Sunday.

IANS