18 Palestinians Killed In Israeli Attacks Across Gaza: Report

Representational Image. (IANS)

Israel-Gaza War: At least 18 Palestinians lost their lives on Sunday after Israeli forces launched attacks in the northern and central Gaza Strip, news agency Xinhua reported, citing Palestinian sources. 

Speaking to Xinhua, Palestinian security officials said that Israeli artillery targeted the outskirts of the Bureij refugee camp and Deir al-Balah in central Gaza. Medical sources of the news agency said that at least seven people were killed in the shelling and taken to Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah.

In a separate incident, eight members of a single family lost their lives when Israeli shelling struck a residential house in the Nuseirat refugee camp. Meanwhile, the Civil Defence Authority in Gaza stated that its teams recovered three bodies and evacuated seven others trapped in homes in the Faluja area of Jabalia.

On Sunday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) stated that its forces had struck around 40 targets and killed dozens of militants during operations across the Gaza Strip in the last 24 hours.

The ongoing Israeli offensive follows a Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which claimed the lives of around 1,200 people, and around 250 people were taken hostage. 

Meanwhile, the health authorities based in Gaza provided an update on the Palestinian death toll from the Israeli airstrikes on Sunday, saying that it has reached 42,227.

On the same day, the Palestinian Liberation Organisation's Prisoners' Affairs Authority and the Palestinian Prisoners' Club announced the death of prisoner Mohammed Musa, 37, from Bethlehem, in Israel's Soroka Hospital.

He had been detained since April 2023 and was held at Rimon prison. The organisations stated that he had no prior chronic health issues and demanded an investigation into the circumstances of his death, holding Israeli authorities responsible. On the same day, Israel released 12 Palestinian prisoners who had been detained during its ground operations in Gaza, according to Palestinian security sources.

The prisoners were released through the Kerem Shalom crossing in southern Gaza. Palestinian human rights groups have reported that hundreds of Palestinians have been arrested by the Israeli army during the ongoing conflict, with their whereabouts currently unknown.

(With Inputs from Xinhua)