Since Israel resumed its intensified military campaign on March 18, at least 2,222 Palestinians have been killed and 5,751 others injured, bringing the overall death toll in Gaza since the war began in October 2023 to 52,314, with a total of 117,792 people injured, according to health authorities in Gaza on Monday.
At least 56 Palestinians were killed and dozens of others wounded in Israeli airstrikes on various areas of the Gaza Strip on Monday, according to the Civil Defense in Gaza.
Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Basal said that the Israeli airstrikes targeted displaced persons' tents, residential houses, and civilian gatherings across the Gaza Strip.
Among the dead, 26 people were killed in Israeli strikes on gatherings and houses in the western and northwestern areas of Gaza City.
In the northern Gaza Strip, at least 12 Palestinians were killed when Israeli warplanes bombed residential houses around the Jabalia refugee camp. Separately, artillery shelling in the town of Beit Lahia killed one person and wounded several others.
In the central Gaza Strip, an Israeli airstrike on a house in the Al-Maghazi refugee camp killed a Palestinian girl, Basal added.
Meanwhile, in the southern city of Khan Younis, 16 Palestinians were killed in a series of Israeli airstrikes that targeted houses, tents sheltering displaced persons, and civilian gatherings.
Palestinian death toll in Gaza rises to 52,314
Israel launched a preemptive strike on Iran early Friday, targeting Iranian nuclear facilities, senior military leaders and research scientists in a major escalation against Tehran.
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed in a statement that its jets have completed the first-stage attack, notably strikes on dozens of military targets, including nuclear targets in different areas of Iran.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video address that the goal of the ongoing operation is "to strike Iran's nuclear infrastructure, Iran's ballistic missile factories, and Iran's military capabilities," and will continue "for as many days as it takes."
Chief Commander of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Hossein Salami and Deputy Army Commander Gholam-Ali Rashid were martyred as a result of the airstrikes, the official news agency IRNA reported.
The Israeli airstrikes also killed two Iranian nuclear scientists, identified as Mohammad-Mehdi Tehranchi and Fereydoun Abbasi, the report said. However, the Iranian side has denied reports that Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Mohammad Bagheri was killed in the Israeli airstrikes, according to IRNA. A spokesman for the Iranian Armed Forces said that Israel, with the support of the United States, launched attacks on many places in Iran, including residential areas, and will pay a "heavy price" for this, and await strong response from the Iranian armed forces.
Explosions were reported in Tehran and counties of Natanz, Khondab and Khorramabad, the Iranian state TV reported, adding that multiple casualties, including women and children, were reported in a residential building in Tehran.
Both Israel and Iran closed their airspace following the attack. Israel has declared a nationwide state of emergency.
In a statement, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio denied any U.S. assistance or involvement in the "unilateral" attack, adding that Israel had told Washington that it believed the strikes were necessary for its self-defense.
Earlier on Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump warned of a possible "massive conflict" in the Middle East, saying that "I don't want them going in" as a new round of Oman-mediated negotiations between the United States and Iran will be held in Muscat Sunday.
"I want to have an agreement with Iran. We're fairly close to an agreement ... As long as I think there is an agreement, I don't want them going in because that would blow it," he told reporters in the White House.
Israel launches preemptive strike on Iran, killing military leaders
