UPDATE - Nearly 40 Palestinians killed as Israel continues bombing shelters, homes, gatherings across Gaza

UPDATES DEATH TOLL, ADDS DETAILS

By Hosni Nedim, Ramzi Mahmud, and Ikram Kouachi

GAZA CITY, Palestine/ANKARA (AA) - At least 37 Palestinians were killed and dozens more injured on Friday as Israeli forces continued heavy bombardment across the Gaza Strip, according to medical sources.

At least 14 people were killed when Israeli warplanes targeted a home in the Al-Tawam area, north of Gaza City.

In a separate strike on Jabalia al-Nazla, also in northern Gaza, four Palestinians were killed and others wounded.

Four Palestinians were killed when Israeli forces hit a civilian gathering near Ali Mosque in Gaza City’s southern Zeitoun neighborhood.

In Gaza City’s Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, Israeli forces also attacked civilian gatherings, killing seven Palestinians, and used booby-trapped robots to detonate homes and residential buildings in the Birkat Sheikh Radwan area. Artillery shelling and gunfire from invading vehicles contributed to the devastation.

Israeli artillery also pounded multiple areas along the eastern edge of Gaza City’s Shujaiya neighborhood.

Fighter jets also bombed Abu Assi School, which houses hundreds of displaced families in Gaza's Al-Shati refugee camp, following evacuation orders. It was not immediately clear whether any casualties occurred.

Two more were killed when Israeli forces attacked a tent sheltering displaced families in Al-Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza City.

In Rafah, a Palestinian was killed by Israeli forces while waiting for humanitarian aid, and three others were killed in Khan Younis in the south, including Amin Abu Muslim, a Palestinian Health Ministry employee.

Meanwhile, casualties were also reported in the Al-Sudaniya area, northwest of Gaza, after a house was hit in an Israeli strike.

In central Gaza’s Deir al-Balah, sources confirmed a Palestinian succumbed to wounds sustained in an earlier strike.

Israeli fire killed one Palestinian waiting for aid near the Nitzarim checkpoint, while a drone strike injured several others at a displacement camp close to Al-Aqsa Hospital. Israeli artillery also shelled areas east of the city.

The Israeli army has continued a brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip, killing more than 64,700 Palestinians 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.