At least nine Gazans were killed in Zionist strikes early this morning, mostly in the southern Gaza Strip, local medical sources reported, while the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said they have intensified their operations in the area since Thursday.

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Seven of the victims died near the southern city of Khan Yunis, according to the Nasser Medical Complex. Since October 7, 2023, the death toll from the occupation’s genocidal campaign on the Gaza Strip has risen to 61,776, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health. At least 154,906 others have been injured.

The IDF stated that it has been conducting an intensified offensive since the previous day in Khan Yunis, allegedly targeting “infrastructures used by terrorist organizations” (referring to the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas), and that operations continue.

Two additional deaths were confirmed at Al Awda Hospital; these individuals died from Israeli army gunfire at a humanitarian aid distribution point in Netzarim, in central Gaza.

Tel Aviv’s regime acknowledged firing “warning shots” several times at groups of Palestinians approaching these distribution points. According to Gaza health authorities, at least 1,881 people have died while seeking humanitarian assistance, which remains scarce in the Strip.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned last Wednesday that famine in Gaza is at its “worst level” since the beginning of the war and that the aid entering the territory is insufficient to meet the needs.

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