Palestinian Red Crescent Society says 43 Palestinians killed by Israel at its headquarters in Khan Younis

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said Friday that the Israeli army has killed 43 displaced Palestinians who were sheltering in its headquarters in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.

PRCS headquarters and its adjacent Al-Amal Hospital have come under direct Israeli fire and siege that isolated those facilities for the past 12 days and prevented movement to and from them, it said.

The Red Crescent said among those killed were three of its staff members inside the headquarters.

PRCS held Israel fully responsible for the lives of staff, more than 100 patients and injured people and over 7,000 displaced people trapped inside the headquarters and the hospital.

"The society reiterates its appeal to the international community and UN agencies to immediately act to provide protection to our staff in Khan Younis, and to compel Israel to respect the sign of the Red Crescent," it said.

Israel launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7 that has killed at least 27,131 Palestinians and injured 66,287, following a surprise attack by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas.

Nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

The Israeli offensive has left 85% of Gaza's population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.