At least 40 Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza

Health and medical sources under Hamas reported that approximately 40 more Palestinians were killed in ongoing Israeli airstrikes on the besieged Gaza Strip. According to these sources, 19 people were killed in the bombing of the al-Bureij and Nuseirat refugee camps located in the central areas of the Gaza Strip. Al-Bureij and Nuseirat are two densely populated Palestinian refugee camps in Gaza, which Israel considers important bases for Hamas. Additionally, the report stated that at least five Palestinians were killed in the bombing of downtown Gaza, and an airstrike on the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza left one dead and several injured. Hamas officials also reported Israeli airstrikes on 'two schools in eastern Gaza City,' stating that these attacks resulted in 15 deaths and 30 injuries. The Israeli army declared these schools as command centers for Hamas and once again accused the group of exploiting civilians and civilian buildings for military purposes. Syria reported that four of its soldiers were injured in an Israeli airstrike. Images circulated on social media show the injured and the bodies of victims being transported to hospitals by carts. International news agencies are currently unable to verify the authenticity of these images. The Gaza Health Ministry, controlled by Hamas, stated on Thursday that the recorded death toll since the start of Israeli attacks on the strip has reached 39,699, with the number of injured at 91,722. This agency's statistics do not differentiate between military and civilian casualties. On Thursday, a large number of Palestinians went to al-Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis to retrieve the bodies of their family members. Images obtained by Reuters show the crowd carrying bodies in plastic bags and holding funeral prayers near the hospital before burying the bodies. Meanwhile, the Israeli army issued messages on social media platform X, instructing residents of several neighborhoods in eastern Khan Younis to evacuate these areas, adding that it would aggressively target militants who had fired rockets from these regions. Some residents of these areas are moving towards the al-Masawi neighborhood, which the Israeli army has declared safe, but due to the influx of refugees from other areas of Gaza, the population density in al-Masawi has significantly increased. In another incident, the 'Global Central Kitchen,' a charity and humanitarian organization based in the U.S., reported on Thursday that one of its employees was killed during an Israeli attack on Deir al-Balah in central Gaza while on leave on Wednesday, August 7, and is investigating the circumstances of his death. The Israeli army claimed ignorance of this incident and stated that it is in contact with the 'Global Central Kitchen.' In April, seven employees of this organization were killed in Israeli drone strikes on three vehicles carrying them, which caused the organization's activities to be halted for about a month in Gaza. At the end of its investigation, the Israeli army acknowledged serious errors and violations of regulations by several soldiers, dismissing two senior officers and reprimanding one senior commander.