Israeli airstrikes late Thursday in the besieged Gaza Strip killed at least nine Palestinians and injured several others, according to local media reports.
The strikes hit a house in the Al-Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza City, which was serving as a shelter for displaced people. The attack resulted in four deaths and multiple injuries, as reported by the official news agency Wafa.
In a separate incident, an airstrike targeted a house in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood north of Gaza City, resulting in three fatalities. Additionally, Wafa stated that 15 individuals were still trapped under the rubble at that location.
Two more people were killed in another attack on a house in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, the broadcaster said.
The number of children who have been killed in Gaza has surpassed the grim mark of 14,000 since Oct. 7, 2023, UNICEF said Friday, reiterating its call for a cease-fire.
"Reports now indicate that more than 14,000 girls and boys have been killed in Gaza," spokesperson James Elder said on X.
"Perhaps we should say that slowly. Fourteen thousand," he said, adding: "Perhaps we should do something. And surely that 'something' is not a military offensive in Rafah."
He urged: "Cease-fire. Now."
Israel has waged a brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7, 2023, cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas, in which nearly 1,200 people were killed.
Nearly 34,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have since been killed in Gaza, and over 76,800 others have been injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.
The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the U.N.
Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.
