GAZA CITY
At least 18 Palestinians, including several children, were killed in fresh Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip, a Health Ministry official said Monday.
"Nine Palestinians, all from the same family, were killed and 20 others injured in Israeli artillery shelling of residential buildings in Rafah city," Ashraf al-Qodra told Anadolu Agency.
Seven children were among those killed in the Israeli shelling, which, according to al-Qodra, left the bodies of the Palestinian victims "totally burnt".
"Israel is committing a new massacre against Palestinian civilians," al-Qodra said.
Elsewhere, medical crews recovered nine bodies, including six children and a woman, from under the rubble of a house in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, after it was hit by Israeli artillery fire earlier in the day.
The latest fatalities followed a bloody day in the Gaza Strip, where at least 110 people were killed in Israeli air and artillery attacks on Sunday, including 72 in the residential area of Shujaya in eastern Gaza City alone, making the day the deadliest since the Israeli operation began on July 7.
Over 400 Palestinians were also injured, many seriously, throughout the day.
Since July 7, Israel has been pounding the Gaza Strip with air and naval bombardments with the stated aim of halting rocket attacks from it. Israel stepped up its offensive on Thursday to include ground operations, sending thousands of troops into the embattled Palestinian territory.
At least 502 Palestinians have been killed and 3150 others injuries in the ongoing Israeli attacks on the blockaded territory.
Israel's military operation, dubbed operation "Protective Edge," is the self-proclaimed Jewish state's third major offensive against Gaza in the last six years.
By Mustafa Haboosh
www.aa.com.tr/en
