GAZA CITY, Palestine

Palestinian resistance movement Hamas Saturday called on the international community and the UN to protect Palestinian civilians and work to stop “Israel's brutal crimes against them.”

“Israeli occupation violations continue with the support of Washington and Western capitals that provide cover for the extremist government to proceed with genocide,” Hamas said in a statement.

It pointed out that “the Israeli occupation continues to target unarmed civilians, especially in the central Gaza Strip, which is a major displacement center for hundreds of thousands from the north and south of the strip.” Israel has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians in Gaza since the Oct. 7 Hamas incursion. Most of the people have been displaced multiple times and much of the territory has been reduced to rubble.

The statement said "the occupation army targets unarmed civilians by issuing new displacement orders ... alongside committing horrific massacres against families. Recently, dozens of martyrs have fallen, including an entire family of 16 members, most of whom were children."

The Israeli army earlier killed earlier an entire family of 16 Palestinians, including nine children, in an airstrike on their home in the Al-Zawaida area, central Gaza Strip.

The movement called on "the international community, the United Nations, and its institutions to break their silence and fulfill their responsibilities in protecting Palestinian civilians, working to stop Israel's brutal crimes against civilians, and holding them accountable."

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala in Istanbul