No let-up in Israel's attacks on Gaza as dozens killed on 1st day of Eid al-Adha

Israeli forces continued with their brutality and did not spare Palestinians on the first day of Eid al-Adha, one of Islam's holiest festivals, by carrying out a series of airstrikes and artillery attacks across the Gaza Strip on Friday morning, killing 20 people and injuring several others, according to eyewitnesses and medical sources.

Despite the festive occasion, many Palestinians performed Eid prayers amid the rubble of their destroyed homes, as Israel's genocidal war continues to devastate the besieged enclave.

In southern Gaza, Israeli warplanes carried out multiple raids in Khan Younis, while heavy artillery targeted residential neighborhoods in the central, northern, and eastern parts of the city, witnesses said.

Plumes of smoke rose across southern Khan Younis as shelling and air raids intensified.

According to medical sources, a child was shot dead by Israeli forces near the Al-Saraya detention area in Khan Younis. Another civilian succumbed to injuries sustained in a previous Israeli strike on the city.

Four Palestinians were killed and several others were injured when an Israeli drone struck a mobile phone charging station set up between tents sheltering displaced families west of Khan Younis.

In Rafah, four more Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces near an aid distribution center, the same locations that have been the target of deadly Israeli attacks since their establishment late last month.

Following an Israeli airstrike on the town of Abasan al-Kabira, east of Khan Younis, rescue crews found one body under the rubble.

Eyewitnesses also reported that Israeli troops carried out demolitions of buildings in northern Khan Younis.

** In northern Gaza Strip, medical sources reported that nine Palestinians were killed and several others injured after Israeli forces bombed residential homes in Jabalia with the casualties transported to Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital.

** Heavy shelling hit the Al-Tuffah neighborhood of Gaza City, while air raids struck Jabalia town, residents said.

On the eve of Eid, at least 41 Palestinians, including children, women, and journalists, were killed in Israeli attacks across various areas, according to local reports.

This marks the fourth Eid al-Adha observed under the shadow of war in Gaza, which has been reeling from a deliberate and systematic campaign of extermination since Oct. 7, 2023.

Israel, rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, has pursued a genocidal offensive in Gaza since October 2023, killing nearly 54,700 Palestinians, most of them women and children. Aid agencies have warned about the risk of famine among the enclave's more than 2 million inhabitants.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war crimes against civilians in the enclave.