UPDATES WITH DEATH TOLL
By Hosni Nedim, Nour Abuaisha, and Ikram Kouachi
GAZA CITY, Palestine / ANKARA (AA) - Israeli airstrikes killed 17 Palestinians and injured several others early Saturday across various areas of the Gaza Strip, sources said.
Medical sources confirmed to Anadolu that four civilians were killed and others injured in an Israeli airstrike targeting a group of displaced Palestinians near Salah al-Din School in western Gaza City.
Separately, one Palestinian was killed and several injured in artillery fire east of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza.
In northern Gaza, Israeli air raids hit three homes in the Jabalia refugee camp.
Earlier in the day, two Palestinians were killed and others injured in a strike on a home in the western camp of Khan Younis. A third person was killed in another strike on Khan Younis refugee camp.
Two more Palestinians were killed in separate strikes on Gaza City’s eastern neighborhoods of Zaitoun and Shejaiya. Their bodies were recovered from the rubble of previously destroyed sites, according to medical sources.
A medical source told Anadolu that three people were killed in a strike on a house in the Tel al-Zaatar area of Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza.
Witnesses said airstrikes also targeted another house east of Jabalia, leaving a number of people injured and missing.
Israeli forces were seen carrying out large-scale demolitions in the area, including near the Al-Awda Hospital using explosive-laden robots.
In southern Gaza, two Palestinians were killed and four others wounded in an Israeli strike on a group of civilians near the Islamic University in the Ma’an area east of Khan Younis.
Another Palestinian was killed by a drone strike in the town of al-Fukhari, also east of Khan Younis.
Meanwhile, five people, including a child and a pregnant woman, were injured when an Israeli strike hit a tent sheltering a family in western Khan Younis.
A child who was wounded in an earlier strike on a vehicle in al-Fukhari on Friday later succumbed to his injuries.
Witnesses also reported demolition operations by Israeli forces in Rafah, where heavy helicopter fire was heard.
In the central Gaza Strip, several Palestinians were injured in a strike on a displacement tent near Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah.
The new wave of attacks comes after the Israeli army announced an expanded campaign dubbed “Operation Gideon’s Chariots.”
According to an army statement, Israeli forces have begun widespread strikes aimed at “liberating hostages and defeating Hamas.”
Israel’s public broadcaster KAN reported that the operation aims to occupy the entire Gaza Strip and may last several months. It involves a mass evacuation of all civilians toward the south where the army plans to establish “secured zones.”
Over the past five days, Israel intensified its attacks in Gaza coinciding with a regional visit by US President Donald Trump.
During Trump’s four-day Gulf tour, which concluded after his departure from the UAE, Israeli forces killed more than 378 Palestinians, nearly four times the number of fatalities reported in the preceding four days, according to data compiled by Anadolu from Gaza’s Health Ministry.
The Israeli army has pursued a brutal offensive against Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, killing more than 53,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.