Israeli forces 13 Palestinians in Gaza attacks

By Mehmet Nuri Ucar

ISTANBUL (AA) - The Israeli army killed 13 Palestinians in attacks on the Gaza Strip early Friday and wounded dozens of others, most of them women and children.

Israeli warplanes bombed a house belonging to the Muammer family in the southern city of Khan Younis, killing 12 people and injuring many others, according to the Palestinian official news agency WAFA.

Local residents and civil defense teams are continuing search and rescue efforts in the collapsed structure following the attack.

The Israeli army's bombing of the Saad bin Abi Waqqas Mosque in the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza resulted in the death of one woman and left dozens injured, mostly women and children.

Israeli warplanes also targeted multiple locations across Gaza, resulting in casualties, including deaths and injuries.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas, in which 1,139 Israelis were killed.

More than 32,500 Palestinians have since been killed and more than 74,900 injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli army has also imposed a blockade on the Gaza Strip, leaving most of the population, particularly residents of the north, on the verge of starvation.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which in an interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

In its Thursday verdict indicating additional measures, the top court ordered Israel to ensure "unhindered provision" of urgent aid to Gaza. The ICJ said that “Palestinians in Gaza are no longer facing only a risk of famine...(but) famine is setting in.”