By Mohamed Majid
GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - At least 12 Palestinians, including children and women, were killed Thursday, and others injured as Israeli warplanes struck a government facility housing displaced residents in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
A medical source reported to Anadolu that the dead, along with a large number of injuries, were taken to the Shuhada al-Aqsa Hospital after the airstrike targeted a Ministry of Social Development building.
The facility serves as a shelter for a considerable number of displaced residents, according to witnesses, who reported that medical teams and civil defense units were engaged in a search for casualties at the target area.
Earlier, the Gaza Ministry of Health warned again about the imminent shutdown of services at the hospital within three hours at 7 p.m. local time.
Israel continued its brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.
More than 35,800 Palestinians have been killed, the vast majority of whom have been women and children, and at least 80,200 others injured since October following an attack by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas.
More than seven months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.
Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which has ordered it to ensure that its forces do not commit acts of genocide and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.
*Writing by Mohammad Sio