UPDATE - 10 children among 38 Palestinians killed in Israeli bombardments of southern Gaza

UPDATES WITH LATEST DEATH TOLL; REVISES HEADLINE; LEDE

By Hosni Nedim

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - At least 38 Palestinians were killed, including 10 children, and another 40 injured on Friday in heavy Israeli air and artillery bombardments targeting residents of Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

The Health Ministry in the enclave reported that the Israeli army "committed several massacres against Palestinians early Friday in southern and eastern Khan Younis, killing 38 civilians mostly women and children.”

Earlier, a medical source in Khan Younis told Anadolu that 40 injured people and the bodies of 28 people, including 10 children, were brought to Nasser Hospital and the European Gaza Hospital since Friday morning after intense Israeli bombardments of the city’s southern and eastern neighborhoods.

Witnesses reported that the Israeli army targeted a residential home, killing a large number of people, including children.

They further noted that Israeli artillery and warplanes bombed the neighborhoods of Al-Manara, Ma'an, Sheikh Nasser, and Qizan Al-Najjar, displacing hundreds of families and forcing them toward the city's western areas.

Witnesses also reported that Israeli forces made a limited incursion into the eastern parts of Khan Younis overnight, coupled with heavy airstrikes and shelling, before withdrawing at dawn, leaving extensive damage to homes and other property.

Israel has continued a devastating offensive on Gaza since an attack in October of last year by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.

More than 42,800 people have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 100,500 others injured, according to local health authorities.

The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the territory’s entire population 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 Ikram Kouachi.