Israeli airstrikes killed 32 more people in the Gaza Strip, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which is under the control of the Hamas-ruled Palestinian territory.
The conflict, now in its ninth month, intensified with fighting across the coastal region from north to south.
Simultaneously, negotiations continue aimed at achieving a cease-fire and the release of hostages.
Hamas members seized captives during their Oct. 7 incursion on southern Israel, an event that sparked the ongoing conflict.
In a brief statement, Gaza’s Health Ministry reported, “32 victims, a majority of them children and women, were taken to hospitals overnight due to continued massacres by Israeli forces.”
Hamas media reported “more than 70 airstrikes” in several parts of the territory, including Gaza City in the north, Nuseirat refugee camp in the center, and Khan Younis and Rafah in the south, Hamas said.
Israel’s military said Friday that troops continue operations in Rafah near the Egyptian border.
In central Gaza, Israeli troops killed an unspecified number of Hamas members “who posed a threat,” while soldiers allegedly “located a weapons production workshop” and funds used by Hamas, the statement said.
In far northern Gaza’s Beit Hanoun, Israeli aircraft struck targets in an area from which projectiles were fired into southern Israel on Thursday, the military added.
Also on Thursday, about 60 bodies were found under the rubble of Gaza City’s eastern Shujaiya neighborhood, Gaza’s Civil Defense agency said.
The discovery came after Israeli troops ended a two-week operation that Gaza’s Civil Defense and residents said had left the area in ruins.
Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmud Bassal said 85% of buildings are now uninhabitable, and Shujaiya has been left a “disaster zone.”
On Wednesday, Israel’s army called on all of Gaza City’s residents to leave the area for their safety, which they termed “a dangerous combat zone.”
The United Nations said up to 350,000 people had been staying in the city.
