At least 50 people were killed on Thursday in Israeli airstrikes and artillery shelling across the Gaza Strip, according to Gaza’s civil defence agency.
Mahmud Bassal, a spokesperson for the agency, reported that 13 bodies were recovered from the rubble following a dawn airstrike in the southern city of Khan Yunis. Another 35 were killed in 12 separate strikes throughout the besieged territory. Additionally, a woman was killed by artillery fire and a man by gunfire in southern Gaza, he said.
The deadly escalation comes after the Israeli government earlier this month approved plans to broaden its military offensive in Gaza, referring to it as part of a broader campaign to “conquer” the territory, AFP reports.
The conflict, triggered by Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel, in which 1,218 people were killed—mostly civilians—and 251 hostages were taken, continues to exact a heavy toll. Of those hostages, 57 remain in Gaza, with the Israeli military reporting that 34 are believed to be dead.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has since killed at least 52,928 people in Gaza, the vast majority civilians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, whose figures are widely cited by the United Nations.
