GAZA CITY, Palestine

At least 26 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes on early Wednesday targeting homes and shelters across Gaza City.

A medical source in the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza City told Anadolu that the death toll from the Israeli airstrike on the Muscat School that shelters displaced people in eastern Gaza rose to 13, including children.

The Gaza Civil Defense said five more were killed in an Israeli airstrike on the Al-Amal Orphanage which also shelters displaced people in central Gaza City.

Eyewitnesses told Anadolu that the Israeli warplanes struck the Muscat School and the Al-Amal Orphanage leaving fatalities in both shelters.

Separately, the Civil Defense said eight Palestinians were killed in an Israeli airstrike on the home of the "Ghattas" family in the Shejaiya neighborhood in eastern Gaza City.

Israel has systematically targeted civilian facilities including schools, hospitals and places of worship amid its ongoing offensive on the Gaza Strip.

Under the rules of war, targeting such civilian facilities can constitute a war crime.

Israel has continued its brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip following an attack by the Palestinian group Hamas last October, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.

More than 41,600 people have since been killed, mostly women and children, and nearly 96,500 others injured, according to local health authorities.

The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of the territory amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine.

​​​​​​​Israel faces accusations of genocide at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara