Gaza civil defence says Israeli forces kill 37, including children
GAZA CITY: Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli forces killed 37 people in the devastated territory on Saturday, including at least nine children who died in strikes.
Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP 35 people were killed in seven Israeli drone and air strikes in various locations, and two others by Israeli fire while waiting for food aid in the Netzarim zone in central Gaza.
He said the dead included three children who were killed in an air strike on a home in Jabalia, in northern Gaza.
Bassal said at least six more children died in a neighbourhood in the northeast of Gaza City, including some in an air strike near a school where displaced people were sheltering.
Restrictions on media in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by rescuers.
AFP images showed mourners weeping over the bodies of seven people, including at least two children, wrapped in white shrouds and blankets at Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City.
Video footage filmed from southern Israel showed smoke rising over northern Gaza after blasts.
Other AFP footage filmed in Gaza City showed a cloud of smoke rising from buildings after a strike.
In Jabalia, an AFP photographer saw civil defence rescuers aiding a man with blood on his back.
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