45 Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrikes across Gaza: Civil defence

Israeli airstrikes across the killed at least 45 Palestinians and injured dozens of others, according to the civil defence in Gaza.

Mahmoud Basal, spokesperson for the civil defence, said on Friday, 18 April, that in the southern city of Khan Younis, 10 people were killed in an Israeli airstrike targeting a residential home belonging to the Baraka family, while six others, including two children and a woman, died after an airstrike on a barbershop.

"Multiple other strikes in Khan Younis reportedly killed eight more people, while two others were killed in southern Rafah city," he added.

In the north, at least 13 people were killed and several others wounded when a strike hit the Maqdad family's home in the Tal al-Zaatar area, Basal said, noting six were killed in airstrikes on two displacement tents in Gaza City, Xinhua news agency reported.

In a press statement, the civil defence warned that its emergency operations may grind to a halt in the coming days due to fuel shortages, which it attributed to the ongoing Israeli restrictions on aid and fuel entry.

In a separate attack in the same region, an Israeli airstrike hit a tent sheltering displaced civilians in the al-Tuwwam area, killing two Palestinians and injuring six others.

Another young man was also killed in an Israeli strike targeting a group of civilians in Jabalia.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement on Friday that, with the direction of intelligence, IDF troops are continuing their operational activity against militant organisations in Gaza, dismantling their infrastructure sites, and killing militants.

"The Israeli Air Force struck nearly 40 terror targets throughout Gaza, including terrorists, military structures, and weapons storage facilities," it said.

Further attacks were reported across Gaza, particularly in the eastern regions of Gaza City, including heavy shelling and airstrikes in the Shujaiya and Zeitoun neighbourhoods, with residential buildings being destroyed.

On Thursday alone, the Israeli army killed at least 45 Palestinians during intensified air, drone, and artillery strikes across the Gaza Strip, according to Palestinian medical sources, civil defence teams, and witnesses.

More than 51,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, have been killed in Israel's ongoing war on Gaza since October 2023.