The Israeli military stepped up attacks on Deir el-Balah over the weekend, as authorities say 40,405 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza.
At least 28 people have been killed in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip since dawn on Sunday, as a weekend of devastating strikes on the enclave continues.
Medical sources provided Tel Aviv Tribune with an updated death toll, adding that the attacks took place across the Gaza Strip.
The attacks bring the toll of Israeli attacks in Gaza since the start of Saturday to 71 dead and 112 injured, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
Victims are still believed to be under the rubble, with ambulances and civil protection teams unable to reach them.
Among the dead were at least eight Palestinians killed in an overnight Israeli airstrike in the eastern part of Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
Medical sources in Gaza told Tel Aviv Tribune that six of those killed were from the same family.
Witnesses reported that there was a drone strike before an Israeli plane dropped a giant bomb.
The Wafa news agency, citing local sources in Gaza, reported that Israeli artillery launched a barrage of intense attacks amid a series of heavy air raids on the enclave.
They hit a house belonging to the Maammar family in al-Hekker, resulting in the death of the family members.
Last week, the Israeli army called on Palestinians seeking refuge in the eastern part of Deir el-Balah to move west, as the area had been declared a “red zone.”
Tel Aviv Tribune journalist Hani Mahmoud said from Deir el-Balah that “this weekend was quite violent and quite bloody.”
“This situation is one-sided. The Israeli army has the upper hand in all this in terms of destruction, and it has caused new civilian casualties, including women and children,” Mahmoud said.
He added that as the attacks continued, the Israeli army withdrew “partially” from the eastern part of Deir el-Balah.
“According to witnesses, they left behind traces of destruction and devastation, including homes, mosques and public buildings,” he said.
But the destruction continues, with Wafa reporting that Israeli drones fired on civilians near the al-Aanan soccer field, killing three and wounding several others.
In Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, rescue teams also recovered the body of a person from al-Qarara, north of the city, despite artillery fire towards the area.
Israeli artillery also targeted a house belonging to the Ayad family in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza, Wafa reported.
Meanwhile, a child succumbed to his injuries 10 days after being hit by an Israeli strike on a group of civilians in the Batn as-Sameen area of Khan Younis.
The attacks come as Hezbollah has launched drones and rockets into Israel and Israeli forces have carried out “preemptive strikes” on Lebanon. They also come as Egypt hosts a new round of negotiations aimed at ending Israel’s 11-month war on Gaza.
Since the start of the war, at least 40,405 Palestinians have been killed in intense Israeli shelling, according to the enclave’s health ministry. At least 93,356 Palestinians have been injured in the attacks.
