21 Palestinians killed as Israeli airstrikes rain down on Gaza
People check the site on an Israeli strike at a house in Nuseirat, Gaza Strip, Palestine, Nov. 22, 2024. (AFP Photo)


At least 21 Palestinians were killed Friday as Israeli airstrikes targeted homes and makeshift shelters across the Gaza Strip, leaving widespread destruction.

A medical source at Gaza's Baptist Hospital told Anadolu Agency (AA) that an airstrike in the Shujaiya neighborhood, east of Gaza City, killed eight people and injured many others.

In the same area, Gaza Civil Defense forces said four more bodies were recovered and several injured individuals were rescued from the rubble of another targeted home.

In northern Gaza, Israeli drones repeatedly struck Kamal Adwan Hospital in the Beit Lahia area, injuring seven medical staff members, including two critically.

Hospital director Hussam Abu Safiya said drones targeted the hospital as staff were rescuing and treating victims from an earlier strike on the hospital's reception area and oxygen unit.

Eyewitnesses said Israeli warplanes carried out additional strikes on the Jabalia refugee camp, while Israeli forces reportedly burned Palestinian homes near Beit Lahia’s town square.

In central Gaza, five Palestinians were killed and others injured in an airstrike on a home in the Nuseirat refugee camp, according to medical sources.

Two more Palestinians were killed, and others injured, when an Israeli helicopter targeted a home in Deir al-Balah.

In southern Gaza, a woman and her daughter were killed when an Israeli helicopter struck a tent sheltering displaced people in the Mawasi area west of Khan Younis, medical sources said.

Israel began its offensive on Gaza last year after a Hamas attack, resulting in the deaths of more than 44,000 people, most of them women and children, and injuring more than 104,000, according to Palestinian authorities.

The second year of the conflict has drawn international condemnation, with many figures and institutions accusing Israel of deliberately targeting civilians and blocking aid deliveries.

Israel also faces a case at the International Court of Justice over alleged genocide in Gaza.

In a significant move, the International Criminal Court on Thursday announced it had issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes in Palestinian territories, including Gaza.