Death toll from Israeli airstrike on central Gaza rises to 33

The death toll from an Israeli airstrike on Thursday on the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip has risen to 33, with 84 others injured and missing, the Gaza-based Government Media Office said Friday.

In a statement, the office condemned the "horrific massacre" targeting a residential block housing dozens of civilians, including women, children, and elderly individuals.

"The targeted area was made up of multiple apartment buildings densely populated with displaced individuals who had already fled their homes due to prior bombings," it said.

The attack, it said, is part of a "broader policy of forced displacement and a violation of international law and a crime against humanity."

The media office also pointed to the strain on Gaza's collapsing health care system, saying that "hospitals and medical centers are being systematically targeted."

During its 14-month-old ongoing war on Gaza, Israel's repeated attacks on civilian buildings and facilities-mosques and churches, residences, hospitals, and others-have drawn international condemnation and been identified as likely war crimes.

In October 2023, Israel launched a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip that has so far killed more than 44,800 people, mostly women and children.

The second year of genocide in Gaza has drawn growing international condemnation, with officials and institutions denouncing the attacks and the blocking of aid deliveries as a deliberate attempt to destroy the population.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) in November issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense chief 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 on Gaza.