At least 44 Palestinians, including numerous women and children, were martyred and dozens more wounded in a fresh wave of brutal Israeli strikes across the besieged Gaza Strip on Wednesday, according to Palestinian medical sources and eyewitnesses.

Israeli forces continued their relentless onslaught on civilian areas, targeting schools, refugee camps, and makeshift shelters housing displaced families amid widespread destruction and a worsening humanitarian catastrophe.

In one of the deadliest attacks of the day, at least 18 people were killed and several others injured in an Israeli strike on a tent sheltering displaced Palestinians inside a school in Khan Younis. Local sources confirmed that many of the victims were children. The bodies of 14 martyrs were transferred to the Nasser Medical Complex, while 12 wounded were taken for emergency treatment.

Six people, including a child, were also killed in shelling on Jabalia and Khan Younis, further highlighting Israel’s ongoing bombardment of northern and southern Gaza.

Additional strikes in northern Gaza left seven more civilians dead. Meanwhile, an Israeli bombardment in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza claimed the life of one Palestinian and injured 10 others, most of them women.

Elsewhere, four civilians were killed when Israeli forces shelled two residential homes in Gaza City and Khan Younis. A Palestinian woman lost her life in Deir al-Balah after her tent was directly hit by an Israeli airstrike. Two more were killed in Jabalia, where Israeli artillery targeted a gathering of civilians.

In a harrowing scene in Beit Lahia, medics retrieved the bodies of three children from the rubble following another Israeli airstrike. Two additional bodies were recovered in Joret al-Lout, Khan Younis.

Israeli warplanes also struck homes in Qizan al-Najjar and areas in northeastern Gaza City, although no confirmed casualty numbers have emerged from those locations yet.

The latest wave of massacres brings the total death toll in Gaza since Israel launched its genocidal war on the enclave in October 2023 to more than 54,600 Palestinians, the vast majority of whom are women and children. Over 125,000 have been injured, and thousands remain buried under rubble.

Despite mounting international outrage and multiple calls for a ceasefire, the Israeli military continues its indiscriminate offensive, targeting civilians and vital infrastructure.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has already issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. In parallel, Israel stands trial at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on charges of committing genocide against the Palestinian people.

As the Gaza Strip endures its 20th month under siege and fire, Palestinian civilians continue to pay the ultimate price amid silence and complicity from much of the international community. (ILKHA)