Israel kills 5 Palestinians, including child, in attacks on Gaza Strip

GAZA CITY, Palestine

At least five Palestinians, including a child, were killed on Sunday as Israeli airstrikes targeted various areas across the Gaza Strip, according to medical sources.

Three Palestinians lost their lives, and several others were injured in a drone strike on a house in the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, the sources told Anadolu Agency.

In a separate incident, an Israeli airstrike on a group of civilians in the Shujaiya neighborhood in eastern Gaza City resulted in the death of another Palestinian and left others wounded. Medical sources at Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital confirmed the casualties.

Additionally, a four-year-old girl succumbed to injuries she sustained during an earlier strike near the laboratory building at the Baptist Hospital in Gaza City late Saturday, the same sources reported.

The situation intensified as Israeli artillery ramped up its bombardment of areas east of the Jabalia refugee camp, the town of Beit Hanoun, and the vicinity of the Zamo area in northern Gaza. Eyewitnesses also reported helicopter fire north of Beit Lahia.

In the southern Gaza Strip, the town of Al-Fukhari in Khan Younis came under heavy fire from Israeli tanks, which shelled the area with artillery and heavy machine guns.

The violence is part of Israel’s ongoing onslaught on the Gaza Strip, which has continued unabated since an attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7. Israel's relentless attacks have persisted despite a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.

According to local health authorities, nearly 40,700 Palestinians have been killed, with most of the casualties being women and children, and over 94,000 have been injured. The blockade on Gaza has led to severe shortages of essential supplies, leaving much of the region in devastation.

Israel is facing genocide accusations at the International Court of Justice, which has ordered a halt to military operations in Rafah, a southern city where over one million Palestinians had sought refuge before the invasion on May 6.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi