GAZA CITY, Palestine

At least nine Palestinians were killed and several others injured in an Israeli airstrike on a marketplace in the central Gaza city of Deir al-Balah on Tuesday, a medical source said.

“A woman and two children were among the victims,” the source told Anadolu.

The source said the death toll is likely to rise as many of the injured are in serious condition.

The targeted area was classified by the Israeli army as a “civilian safe zone” amid Tel Aviv’s ongoing offensive on the Gaza Strip.

The market was crowded with people at the time of the attack as it is located near a station serving the Mawasi area west of Khan Younis, which Israel classified as a “safe zone” for Palestinian civilians.

The attack came shortly after at least 12 people were killed in an Israeli strike on a school sheltering displaced people in Gaza City on Tuesday.

Israel has systematically targeted civilian facilities, including schools, hospitals, and places of worship, amid its ongoing offensive on the Gaza Strip despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.

The Israeli onslaught on Gaza has killed over 40,170 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured more than 92,740 since Oct. 7, according to local health authorities.

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, 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 Rania Abu Shamala