At least 19 Palestinians, including several children, have been killed and dozens more injured since the early hours of Sunday as Israeli airstrikes and artillery shelling continued to pound multiple areas across Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, according to local and medical sources.

The latest wave of strikes targeted residential homes, refugee camps, and civilian gatherings, marking yet another deadly escalation in the ongoing Israeli military campaign.

In one of the attacks, a young girl was killed and several others wounded after an Israeli warplane bombed a house in the Khan Younis refugee camp. Elsewhere, an Israeli drone strike targeted a group of farmers south of the city, killing two more civilians, the sources said.

Rescue teams also recovered the body of Elin Alaa Baraka, a 7-year-old girl who had been trapped under rubble for several days following an earlier Israeli airstrike on Bani Suheila, east of Khan Younis.

In a separate incident, four civilians were injured after Israeli artillery shells struck a crowd in the Al-Awamrah area, east of Abasan, a nearby town.

Israeli fighter jets reportedly launched additional strikes on a residential house and tents sheltering displaced families west of Khan Younis, contributing to the rising toll of casualties. Medical teams confirm that at least 19 people have been killed in Khan Younis governorate alone since last night.

The latest deaths come amid Israel’s broader military assault on Gaza, which began in October 2023 and has so far resulted in at least 50,669 documented Palestinian fatalities and over 115,225 injuries, according to local health authorities.

Thousands more civilians are believed to be trapped under rubble, inaccessible to rescue teams due to ongoing airstrikes and the destruction of civil defense infrastructure.

Despite growing international pressure, including repeated calls by the UN Security Council for an immediate ceasefire and binding directives by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to prevent genocide and protect civilians, Israel’s military operations continue unabated.

Humanitarian groups warn of a worsening catastrophe, with Gaza’s population enduring extreme shortages of food, medicine, and shelter, as well as the collapse of medical services under the relentless bombardment. (ILKHA)