20 Palestinians killed as Israel pounds besieged Gaza

By Hosni Nedim

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) — Dozens of Palestinians, including children, were killed and injured Saturday in a series of overnight airstrikes conducted by Israeli warplanes targeting homes in various areas of the Gaza Strip.

"Five Palestinians were martyred and several others were injured by an Israeli airstrike targeting the Ayad family's home in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City," the Civil Defense Service in Gaza said in a statement.

"Israeli warplanes targeted a house belonging to the Shraihi family in the new camp in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, killing four Palestinians, including children and women," it added.

Another Israeli airstrike targeted the Abu Jaser family's home in the Al-Alami area of the Jabalia refugee camp, killing four Palestinians and injuring several others, according to the Civil Defense.

Three more Palestinians were killed and others were injured in an Israeli airstrike on the Batran family's home in the Al-Bureij refugee camp of the central Gaza Strip.

Eyewitnesses told Anadolu that Israeli warplanes bombed a populated dwelling belonging to the Abu Sidra family in the Nuseirat refugee camp, resulting in several Palestinian casualties.

In a statement, the Al-Awda Hospital reported receiving "four martyrs and 15 injured Palestinians following an airstrike near the Tala'a Mosque in the Nuseirat camp."

Israel, flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.

More than 38,800 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and nearly 89,400 injured, according to local health authorities.

Over nine months into the Israeli onslaught, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

* Writing by Ikram Kouachi