At least 47 people have been killed and many others injured in Israeli overnight airstrikes on the centre of the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported on Friday, citing medical sources.
The strikes hit the Nuseirat refugee camp and the towns of Deir al-Balad and al-Zawaida. Residential areas were targeted, where displaced people were being housed, according to WAFA. Many of the dead were women and children, the agency reported.
“Eyewitnesses reported that following the initial strikes, residents rushed to help those affected, only to be targeted again by subsequent bombings. Search and rescue operations are ongoing, as efforts continue to locate missing individuals trapped under the rubble,” WAFA reported.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said they were checking the reports. An IDF statement said that operations were continuing in the centre of the Gaza Strip
“The troops identified and eliminated a number of armed terrorists operating in the area,” the IDF posted on X.
IDF operations also continued in Jabalia in the north of the Gaza Strip and in Rafah in the south. In both areas, military positions had been attacked and a number of Palestinians killed, the IDF reported, terming them “terrorists.”
