5 killed in Israeli strike on tents housing displaced Gazans in Khan Younis

Five Palestinians were killed and several others injured on Wednesday in an Israeli airstrike on tents housing displaced people in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, according to a medical source.

The attack targeted refugee tents in the Hamad City residential area north of Khan Younis, witnesses said.

For the third consecutive day, the Israeli army continued its military operations in Khan Younis amid artillery shelling, gunfire, and the demolition of residential buildings.

The army launched a surprise attack in the city after issuing immediate evacuation orders for residents in its eastern neighborhoods, which were previously designated by Tel Aviv as a "safe zone" for displaced civilians.

At least 129 Palestinians have since been killed and over 400 others injured in the ongoing Israeli offensive in the city, according to local authorities.

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.

More than 39,100 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 90,200 injured, according to local health authorities.

Over nine months into the Israeli onslaught, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.