At least 12 Palestinians killed as Israeli army pounds northern Gaza

By Hosni Nadim

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) – At least 12 Palestinians were killed on Thursday as Israel pressed ahead with a military offensive in the northern Gaza Strip, according to medical sources and witnesses.

Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinians trying to leave the Abu Sharekh roundabout west of the Jabalia refugee camp, killing eight people and injuring several others, a medical source said.

Two more Palestinians were killed and others injured when an Israeli drone hit a group of civilians near the Abdul Rahman bin Awf School in the Saftawi neighborhood northwest of Gaza City, according to witnesses.

Two more people lost their lives and others were injured, including women and children, in a drone strike targeting a clinic where hundreds of civilians have sheltered west of Gaza City, another medical source said.

Artillery shelling was also reported in Tel al-Zaatar in northern Gaza, but no information was yet available about casualties.

The Israeli army continued a military offensive in the northern Gaza Strip for a fifth day on Thursday amid a tight siege on the area, according to witnesses.

Israel claims that the onslaught aims to prevent Hamas from regaining strength in northern Gaza.

Israel has continued its brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip following an attack by the Palestinian group Hamas last year, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.

More than 42,000 people have since been killed, mostly women and children, and nearly 97,900 others injured, according to local health authorities.

The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of the Gaza Strip amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala