Israeli army ramps up attacks on Deir el-Balah over the weekend as authorities say 40,405 Palestinians now killed across Gaza.
At least eight Palestinians have been killed in an overnight Israeli air attack in the eastern part of Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
Medical sources in Gaza told Al Jazeera on Sunday that six of those killed were from the same family.
Witnesses reported that there was a drone strike before an Israeli jet dropped a giant bomb.
The Wafa news agency reported, quoting local sources in Gaza, that the Israeli artillery launched a heavy barrage of attacks amid a series of intense air raids on the enclave.
They struck a house belonging to the Maammar family in al-Hekker, resulting in the killings of the family members.
Last week, the Israeli army called on Palestinians seeking shelter in the eastern part of Deir el-Balah to move westwards as the area had been declared a “red zone”.
Reporting from Deir el-Balah, Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud said this “weekend has been quite violent, [and] quite bloody”.
“This has been one-sided. The Israeli military has the upper hand in all of this in terms of the level of destruction, and it has caused further civilian casualties, including women and children,” Mahmoud said.
He added that as the attacks took place, the Israeli army withdrew “partially” from the eastern part of Deir el-Balah.
“According to witnesses, they left trails of destruction and devastation, including homes, mosques and public buildings,” he said.
But the destruction continued, with reports from Wafa on Israeli drones firing at civilians near al-Aanan football field, killing three people and injuring several more.
In Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, rescue teams have also recovered the body of a person from al-Qarara, north of the town, despite artillery shells being fired towards the area.
Israeli artillery also targeted a home belonging to the Ayad family in the Zeitoun neighbourhood in Gaza City, Wafa reported.
Meanwhile, a child succumbed to their wounds 10 days after being hit by an Israeli strike on a group of civilians in the Batn as-Sameen area of Khan Younis.
According to health authorities in Gaza, at least 59 people have been killed across the Strip since Saturday.
The continuing attacks come as Hezbollah launched drones and rockets into Israel and Israeli forces conducted “preemptive strikes” on Lebanon. It also comes as Egypt is hosting a new round of talks aimed at ending Israel’s war on Gaza, now in its 11th month.
Since the war began, at least 40,405 Palestinians have been killed in intense Israeli bombardments, according to the enclave’s Ministry of Health. At least 93,356 Palestinians have been wounded in these attacks.
