UPDATE - At least 4 killed in Israeli strike on tents of displaced people in Gaza hospital courtyard

UPDATE WITH NEW DEATH TOLL

By Mahmut Geldi

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - At least four Palestinians were killed and 40 others injured in an Israeli strike on tents housing displaced civilians in the Gaza Strip early Monday, according to local media.

A fire erupted in the tents in the courtyard of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, located in the central city of Deir al-Balah, as a result of the attack, Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.

Officials from Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital told WAFA that many civilians were killed and injured in the Israeli attack, noting that the hospital was filled with wounded.

According to a statement from the government media office in Gaza, this was the Israeli army's seventh attack targeting the tents of displaced civilians at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.

Earlier, Israeli warplanes bombed the tents of displaced civilians in the hospital compound on Jan. 10, March 13, July 22, Aug. 4, and Sept. 27.

Images of people trapped in the flames have flooded social media.

Israel has continued a brutal offensive on Gaza following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7 last year, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.

More than 42,200 people have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 98,400 injured, according to local health authorities.

The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of the Gaza Strip 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 Alperen Aktas from Istanbul