31 Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza: civil defense

At least 31 Palestinians were killed in the latest Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip, Gaza's Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Basal told Xinhua on Wednesday, reported Xinhua.

The Israeli jets attacked a house in the Zeitoun neighborhood, south of Gaza City, killing five Palestinians and wounding six others, Basal said. Seven other Palestinians, including women and children, were killed in an Israeli bombing on a house in Khan Younis city in the southern Gaza Strip, Basal added.

In the same city, three members of the same family were killed in Israeli air raids, according to Basal. Later, Israeli aircraft targeted a tent in the Al-Mawasi area west of Khan Younis, killing five people, including a woman and four children, Basal said.

In addition, Israeli warplanes struck a vehicle in the Al-Manara neighborhood, east of Khan Younis, killing two people inside, he added. In Deir al-Balah city in central Gaza, an Israeli airstrike killed three members of the "Al-Banna" family, while another bombing on a house in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip killed five.

In the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, north of Gaza City, Israeli aircraft targeted the home of the Kallab family, killing one person and injuring several others. Four members of the family are still missing under the rubble, while civil defense teams are working to retrieve them, according to Basal.

For its part, the Israeli military said in a statement that one of its combat helicopters struck a school in the Jabalia area, claiming that Hamas operatives were operating there within a command and control compound. It added that later in the day, a rocket was fired from Gaza at southern Israel and was successfully intercepted by the Israeli Air Force.

Israel has been conducting a large-scale offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip to retaliate against a Hamas rampage through the southern Israeli border on Oct. 7, 2023, during which about 1,200 people were killed and about 250 taken hostages.

The Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip has risen to 45,936, the Gaza-based health authorities said in a statement on Wednesday.