At least 38 Palestinians, including 10 children, were killed and around 40 others injured Friday due to intense Israeli air and artillery strikes targeting residents in Khan Younis, southern Gaza.

The Health Ministry in the enclave stated that the Israeli army "committed multiple massacres against Palestinians early Friday in southern and eastern Khan Younis, resulting in the deaths of 38 civilians, predominantly women and children."

Earlier, a medical source in Khan Younis told Anadolu Agency (AA) that 40 injured people and the bodies of 28 individuals, including 10 children, were brought to Al-Nasser Hospital and the European Gaza Hospital since Friday morning after intense Israeli bombardments of the city's southern and eastern neighborhoods.

Witnesses reported that the Israeli army targeted a residential home, killing many people, including children.

They also noted that Israeli artillery and warplanes bombed the neighborhoods of al-Manara, Ma'an, Sheikh Nasser and Qizan al-Najjar, displacing hundreds of families and forcing them toward the city's western areas.

Witnesses reported that Israeli forces made a limited incursion into the eastern parts of Khan Younis overnight, coupled with heavy airstrikes and shelling, before withdrawing at dawn, leaving extensive damage to homes and other property.

Israel has continued its devastating offensive on Gaza since an attack in October by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas, despite a U.N. Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.

More than 42,800 people have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 100,500 others injured, according to local health authorities.

The Israeli onslaught has displaced nearly the entire population of the territory amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.