Fatalities as Israeli jets hit 2 houses in Gaza City

GAZA CITY, Palestine

Several people were killed and injured in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City on Sunday, according to witnesses.

The strikes targeted two houses in the Zaitoun neighborhood, the witnesses said.

Damage was reported to several nearby buildings in the area.

The Palestinian Health Ministry has yet to issue an exact death toll from the attack.

On Saturday, the Israeli army expanded its ground and air attacks across the Gaza Strip amid a brutal offensive that killed more than 35,000 people and injured 76,600 others since last October following a Hamas attack that killed nearly 1,200 people.

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 (ICJ). An interim ruling in January said it is "plausible" that Tel Aviv is committing genocide in Gaza, ordering it to stop such acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

South Africa on Friday asked the ICJ to order Israel to withdraw from the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1.5 million displaced people have been sheltered, as part of additional emergency measures over the war.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala