UPDATE - At least 26 Palestinians killed, including women and children, in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza

ADDS 5 ADDITIONAL FATALATIES; DEATH TOLL CHANGED IN HEADLINE, LEDE

By Hosni Nedim

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - At least 26 Palestinians, including children and displaced people, were killed and several injured Wednesday in Israeli airstrikes targeting shelters and homes across the Gaza Strip.

In the southern part of Gaza, Civil Defense reported that two Palestinians were killed and another injured when an Israeli drone targeted a gathering of civilians in the Al-Janineh neighborhood, east of Rafah.

Eight Palestinians, including four children, were also killed in Israeli shelling that struck displaced peoples’ tents in the western part of Khan Younis, according to Palestinian paramedics who spoke to Anadolu.

In central Gaza, a medical source told Anadolu that six Palestinians were killed and several others wounded in an Israeli airstrike on the Khalid Ibn Al-Walid School in the Al-Nuseirat refugee camp, which was housing displaced families.

The bodies of the victims were later transferred to the Shuhada al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah.

In Gaza City, a medical source confirmed that four Palestinians were killed and several others injured in an Israeli strike on a residential building in the Al-Rimal neighborhood, south of the city.

Additionally, one Palestinian was killed and another injured in a separate airstrike targeting a civilian gathering in the city’s central Thawra Street.

Five additional people lost their lives when an Israeli fighter jet targeted a residential home in the Jabalia al-Nazla area of northern Gaza, according to witness accounts.

Under the rules of war, attacks on civilians and civilian facilities are prohibited.

Despite international warnings, Israel has continued its attacks on refugee shelters in the enclave, with airstrikes targeting displaced people in tents, resulting in large numbers of casualties.

This has raised concerns over the consequences of such actions, disregarding the calls from international groups for the protection of civilians.

Israel launched a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip following a Hamas attack last year, killing nearly 44,000 people, most of them women and children, and injuring over 104,000.

The second year of genocide in Gaza has drawn growing international condemnation, with figures and institutions labeling the attacks and blocking of aid deliveries a deliberate attempt to destroy a population.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its deadly war on Gaza.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio