Israeli bombings claim 43 lives in single day, with 2 children, woman killed in fresh airstrike on Gaza

GAZA CITY, Palestine

Two children and a woman were killed in a fresh Israeli airstrike on a house in Gaza City on Saturday, bringing the total number of Palestinian deaths from the merciless attack on the city to 43, with dozens more injured.

In a statement, the Gaza Civil Defense said: “Our teams in the Gaza Governorate managed to recover 3 martyrs (bodies), including two children and a woman, and several injuries after Israeli occupation (Israeli forces) aircraft targeted Ahel family's house in the al-Daraj neighborhood, eastern Gaza City.”

With the killing of these three Palestinians, the total number of people killed in Gaza City as a result of Israeli bombardment in the last few hours has reached 43.

Earlier, Civil Defense spokesman Mahmoud Basal told Anadolu: "The Israeli army bombarded residential buildings inhabited by residents and displaced people in Gaza neighborhoods in the past hours, resulting in the death of 40 Palestinians, including children and women, dozens of injuries, and people missing under the rubble.”

“The warplanes destroyed residential buildings in the al-Shati refugee Camp, Al-Tuffah neighborhood, Al-Shuja'iyya neighborhood, and Al-Zeitoun neighborhood in Gaza City,” he added.

The Israeli army admitted to targeting Gaza City but claimed it "bombed two military structures of the Hamas movement in Gaza."

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.

More than 37,500 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and nearly 86,000 others injured, according to local health authorities.

More than eight months into the Israeli war, 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, whose latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in 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