At least 13 Palestinians were killed and dozens more injured in the early hours of Friday as Israeli occupation forces launched renewed air and ground assaults across the besieged Gaza Strip, intensifying their ongoing military campaign that has devastated the civilian population since October 2023.

Local sources reported that seven Palestinians from the Nasr family were killed and others wounded when Israeli warplanes bombed their home in Jabalia al-Nazla, in northern Gaza. Rescue efforts continue as families search for survivors under the rubble amid limited access to emergency services.

In the southern Gaza Strip, three more Palestinians, including displaced civilians, were killed when Israeli forces struck two tents sheltering families west of Khan Yunis. The victims were transferred to Nasser Medical Complex.

Another two civilians were killed and several injured when an Israeli airstrike targeted a civilian vehicle in Abasan al-Kabira, east of Khan Yunis. In Rafah, Israeli gunfire claimed the life of another Palestinian in the al-Shakoush area, northwest of the city.

The Israeli military has also demolished homes in the Al-Tuffah neighborhood of Gaza City and in Al-Qarara, north of Khan Yunis—further compounding the destruction of Gaza’s already fragile civilian infrastructure.

Late Thursday night, Israel issued new evacuation orders to residents in Jabalia al-Balad and Al-Atatra in northern Gaza, along with several neighborhoods in Gaza City, including Al-Shuja’iya, Al-Daraj, and Al-Zaytoun. These forced displacements come as part of what human rights organizations have condemned as a systematic campaign of ethnic cleansing.

The overnight attacks followed a deadly Thursday in which more than 70 Palestinians—many of them women and children—were killed in a relentless barrage of Israeli airstrikes and artillery shelling across the strip.

Since the beginning of Israel’s military assault in October 2023, at least 54,249 Palestinians have been killed, with over 123,492 injured, according to health officials in Gaza. Thousands remain trapped under rubble, unreachable by emergency teams due to ongoing Israeli bombardments and blockades.

Despite repeated calls from the United Nations Security Council for an immediate ceasefire and urgent directives from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) demanding Israel take steps to prevent genocide, the assault on Gaza continues unabated. Humanitarian groups warn of catastrophic conditions, with mass displacement, the collapse of medical services, and widespread hunger.

The people of Gaza, facing an ever-worsening humanitarian crisis, continue to call on the international community to act decisively and uphold international law in the face of what Palestinian advocates have described as a campaign of genocide. (ILKHA)