(MENAFN) Since early Wednesday, Israeli military offensive in Gaza have claimed the lives of 33 civilians, including children, medical sources report, as fighting escalates in Gaza City. According to a medical source cited by media, an Israeli strike hit a house in Jabalia al-Nazla town in northern Gaza, killing three and injuring 10 others. Another source confirmed that five family members died after an Israeli attack targeted a tent sheltering displaced Palestinians in the Shati refugee camp, western Gaza City.

In a separate strike near the Islamic University of Gaza, four individuals, including children, were killed in a tent, while in the southern Sabra neighborhood, an Israeli shelling of a home resulted in the deaths of two children and injuries to others. Further devastation occurred in the Zeitoun neighborhood of southeastern Gaza City when a building housing displaced persons was struck, killing four family members and injuring several more, with the attack sparking a fire in the structure.

Witnesses reported multiple explosions across Gaza City as the Israeli military sustained its campaign, marking the tenth consecutive day of heavy air and artillery strikes on the Zeitoun and Sabra neighborhoods. This offensive, launched on August 11, encompasses home demolitions, gunfire, use of booby-trapped devices, and forced displacement.

On Wednesday, an Israeli public broadcaster announced that Defense Minister Israel Katz had approved a plan to occupy Gaza City.

In central Gaza, Israeli gunfire near an aid distribution site in the northern Nuseirat refugee camp killed eight Palestinians, according to Al-Awda hospital. An additional five people, including a child, were killed when Israeli warplanes struck multiple homes in the camp.

Meanwhile, a Palestinian woman and her two children, one a toddler, died in an Israeli airstrike on their home in a refugee camp in Khan Younis. A separate strike on a tent in Al-Mawasi, Khan Younis, injured 12 people.

Since October 2023, Israeli military operations have killed over 62,000 Palestinians in Gaza, leaving the enclave devastated and facing severe famine. In response, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, charging them with war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. Israel also confronts a genocide case at the International Court of Justice related to its ongoing campaign in the territory.

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