57 killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza: sources

In Gaza City, four people, including two children, were killed in an Israeli airstrike targeting two apartments and a gathering of Palestinians, spokesperson for Gaza's civil defense Mahmoud Basal told Xinhua.

At least seven people were killed and several others injured, including children, in an Israeli airstrike on a three-story building housing residential apartments and medical clinics in the al-Rimal neighborhood, west of the city, Basal said.

Twelve people, including five women and five children, were killed in an Israeli airstrike on tents housing displaced people in the Nasr neighborhood, northwest of the city, Basal said, noting that the airstrike destroyed many tents and set some others on fire.

Six people were killed in Israeli attacks on the Zeitoun neighborhood, south of the city, he said.

Palestinian security sources also reported Israeli raids and bombings in the early hours on residential buildings in the Sheikh Radwan and Sabra neighborhoods in the city, amid intense overflights by Israeli helicopters and drones. Local residents said they heard sounds of massive explosions and intense gunfire.

 The latest Israeli attacks came a day after the Israeli army announced the start of "preliminary operations and the initial stages" of an attack on Gaza City, saying its forces are operating with "great intensity" on the city's outskirts.

 Since Oct. 7, 2023, Israel's military campaign in Gaza has killed 63,371 people and injured 159,835 others, Gaza-based health authorities said Saturday, adding that starvation and malnutrition in Gaza have caused 332 deaths, including 124 children.

 On Friday, Israel's state-owned Kan TV News reported that Israel will stop the airdrop operation of humanitarian aid over Gaza City in the coming days, and the entry of ground aid via trucks to northern Gaza will also be reduced.