GAZA CITY, Palestine

Four Palestinians were killed and several others injured in two separate Israeli airstrikes on central Gaza on Saturday.

According to medical sources at Al-Awda Hospital, three Palestinians were killed when an Israeli drone struck a gathering of civilians in the Nuseirat refugee camp.

Witnesses also reported that the drone fired a missile at a group of people in an open area near Al-Sunna Mosque in Camp 2 leading to multiple casualties.

In a second attack, an Israeli drone hit the home of the Al-Aklouk family in the Al-Barakah area south of Deir al-Balah, killing one Palestinian and injuring several others, medical staff at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital said.

Despite appeals on Thursday from mediators, including Egypt, the US, and Qatar, to stop hostilities, reach a cease-fire, and a hostages exchange agreement, Israel persists with its deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli onslaught against the Gaza Strip has killed nearly 39,700 people since last October following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.

More than 10 months into the Israeli onslaught, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

* Writing by Ikram Kouachi