UPDATE 2 – Israeli strikes kill 22 Gazans, including aid seekers, as 2 more die of starvation

UPDATES DEATH TOLL

By Ikram Kouachi and Tarek Chouiref

ANKARA (AA) – At least 22 Palestinians were killed, including eight aid seekers, in a fresh series of Israeli strikes on Thursday, as two more died of starvation in the Gaza Strip, medics said.

A medical source said five family members were killed in a drone strike in northwestern Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

Another five were killed when Israeli forces shelled a group of civilians waiting near an aid distribution center on Salah al-Din Street in central Gaza.

In Gaza City’s al-Tuffah neighborhood, two more civilians were killed and several others critically wounded in a drone strike targeting a gathering of residents in the al-Zarqa area.

Four Palestinians were also killed in a drone strike in the northern town of Jabalia, while three others were killed in an airstrike near Al-Istijaba Mosque in Gaza City’s Sabra neighborhood.

In Rafah, three more people were killed and others injured as Israeli forces bombed aid seekers near distribution centers in southern Gaza, according to medical staff at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.

Israeli forces also continued demolitions and bombardment in the Zeitoun and Sabra neighborhoods in Gaza City, the official news agency Wafa reported.

Meanwhile, Munir al-Bursh, Director General of Gaza’s Health Ministry, said on the US social media company X that two more Palestinians died of starvation and malnutrition in the last 24 hours, bringing the famine-linked deaths since October 2023 to 271, including 112 children.

Israel has killed more than 62,100 Palestinians in Gaza since October 2023. The military campaign has devastated the enclave, which is facing famine.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants 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.