UPDATE - 15 Palestinians killed, 20 injured in Israeli attack on mosque in central Gaza

UPDATES WITH HIGHER DEATH TOLL, CHANGES HEADLINE, LEDE

By Anadolu staff

ANKARA (AA) – The death toll from an Israeli attack on a mosque in the central Gaza Strip on Saturday has climbed to 15, with more than 20 others injured.

“The Israeli army targeted a mosque in the Shati Camp, west of Gaza City, in the central Gaza Strip,” Mahmoud Basal, a Civil Defense Agency spokesman, told Anadolu.

The attack killed 15 Palestinians and injured over 20 others, most of them seriously, he added.

During its offensive on Gaza since last October, Israel has repeatedly hit civilian facilities such as schools, hospitals, and places of worship. Under the rules of war, such facilities are off limits to attacks, which could be a war crime.

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 Palestinian group Hamas.

More than 38,000 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 88,000 injured, according to local health authorities.

Over nine months into the Israeli war, 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​​​​​​​