Israeli airstrikes kill at least 31 Palestinians in Gaza

GAZA: Israeli strikes in the northern and central Gaza Strip on Wednesday killed at least 31 Palestinians, most of them in Beit Lahiya town in the north of the enclave, medics said.

Health officials said an airstrike on a house in Beit Lahiya killed at least 22 people, including women and children. Relatives listed the names of the dead on social media.

The Palestinian news agency WAFA said at least 30 people were living in the multi-storey building before it was struck, adding that several members of the family remained missing as rescue operations continued through morning hours.

The Israeli military said it was checking the report.

Earlier on Wednesday, at least seven Palestinians were killed and several others wounded in an Israeli airstrike on a house in the Nuseirat camp in the central part of the Gaza Strip, medics told Reuters.

The Palestinian Civil Emergency Service said another two people were killed by an Israeli airstrike on a house in Gaza City.

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In Beit Hanoun town in northern Gaza Strip, where the Israeli forces have operated since October, medics said an Israeli airstrike killed and wounded several people. Rescue workers said several people were trapped under the rubble of a house.

The Israeli military said in a statement that two rockets were fired from the central Gaza Strip into Israel, but fell in open areas and caused no injuries. It signalled the ability of Gaza militants to continue to stage rocket attacks despite 14 months of devastating Israeli aerial and military offensives.

Israeli forces have been operating in Beit Hanoun, the nearby town of Beit Lahiya, and the Jabalia refugee camp since October 5, fighting Hamas militants waging attacks from those areas and preventing them from regrouping.

Palestinian officials and residents accuse Israel of depopulating the two towns and refugee camp on the northern edge of the enclave to create a buffer zone, something Israel denies.

Israel and Hamas have been waging war since gunmen from the Palestinian militant group attacked Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and capturing over 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

More than 44,700 Palestinians have been killed in the 14-month-old Israeli military campaign on Gaza that has followed, Gaza health authorities say.

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