ReutersHamas’ health ministry said Israel’s attack on southern Gaza has killed at least 38 people.
Rescue workers said nine children from a family were among the victims in the suburb of the southern city of Khan Younis.
The Israeli military said its forces killed several Hamas fighters and dismantled infrastructure in an operation in the Khan Younis area, questioning the reported number of casualties.
Israeli forces reportedly attacked one of the last functioning hospitals in the northern part of the territory.
The World Health Organization said it had lost contact with medical staff at Kamal Adwan Hospital in the northern town of Beit Lahiya, close to the besieged Jabaliya region, while the Health Ministry said Israeli forces detained workers working there people, patients and displaced persons.
The Israeli military said its forces were operating in the Kamal Adwan “area” based on intelligence “regarding the presence of terrorists”.
Israel has reportedly launched a new ground offensive in Jabaliya in recent weeks that has killed hundreds of Palestinians and displaced tens of thousands, with the military saying the offensive was aimed at preventing Hamas militants from regrouping.
At least two residential buildings in the Manara neighborhood southeast of Khan Younis came under Israeli attack around dawn on Friday, according to a spokesman for Gaza’s Hamas civil defense agency.
Mahmoud Bassal said the attack on the Farah family’s home killed 14 people, including nine children. Six members of the Abdeen family were also reportedly killed in a separate attack.
Photos from the scene showed relatives and neighbors scouring the rubble of several destroyed buildings near a large crater.
Saleh Adel al-Fara told BBC Arabic program Gaza Today that clashes broke out between Israeli troops and Palestinian militants on Thursday night “when things were calming down a little bit.” His family went to bed.
“At 2:30 in the morning, I woke up suddenly, feeling suffocated and started screaming for help. Then I found my brother looking for me under the rubble and told me that the house had been bombed,” he said.
“I don’t remember what happened next. My brothers and sisters were martyred, and my two pregnant sisters were injured.
He added: “Despite what they claim, there are no resistance fighters among us. All the wounded and dead are civilians.
Another member of the family, Umm al-Ameer al-Fara, told AFP: “The rocket fell next to us and we were buried under the rubble. My children and sister were killed. .
Civil Protection released a video it said showed rescuers recovering the bodies of nine children from Faras’ home. The children were also later photographed in body bags at the nearby European Gaza Hospital.
Reuters said the bodies of three other children were taken to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.
ReutersOne resident, who asked not to be named, told BBC Arabic that Israeli fighter jets and tanks struck the area without warning.
“The army stormed into our area, passed in front of our house with advanced machinery and started shooting. They bombed the house of Abdeen’s family and the houses of some neighbours,” the man said.
“In the past, we would receive warnings via text message to evacuate the area before military operations. This time, they are targeting unarmed civilians who are not connected to any incident. [armed] organize”.
Health officials also told The Associated Press that the attack included airstrikes and shelling.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement that its troops “acted based on intelligence information to dismantle terrorist infrastructure and eliminate a large number of terrorists” in the Khan Younis area overnight.
“Reports of casualties in the area are inconsistent with the information currently available to the IDF,” the statement added.
On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on southern Israel, killing approximately 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, and Israel launched a campaign to destroy Hamas.
Since then, more than 42,840 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.
