Dozens of people were killed in new Israeli attacks in Gaza on Friday, while Israel said three of its soldiers died in the northern city of Jabalia.
An Israeli attack on Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip killed at least 38 people, according to the Gaza health authority, which is controlled by the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Palestinian news agency WAFA said earlier that at least 28 people, mostly children and women, were killed in the incident.
Dozens of others were injured in the attack on a residential building.
WAFA also reported at least 20 deaths and dozens of injuries in Israeli attacks on two buildings in Beit Lahia in northern Gaza.
The figures could not be independently verified. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said it is investigating the reports.
Three Israeli troops killed
Also on Friday, the IDF said three of its troops were killed in Jabalia, where Israeli forces have been operating in recent weeks.
The three men, aged 21 and 22, were killed when a bomb exploded on a tank.
Several soldiers were injured in the incident and are being treated in hospital.
The humanitarian situation in the area is described by witnesses as catastrophic. According to the IDF, 45,000 civilians have recently fled.
It was previously said that over the course of the past day, units in Jabalia eliminated dozens of terrorists, dismantled terrorist infrastructure and secured numerous weapons.
Palestinian authorities reported numerous deaths and injuries in the area on Thursday after the Israeli army attacked several houses.
Palestinian reports mentioned 150 victims, while the health authority cited 200. More precise details, such as the number of dead and injured, were not available.
The IDF said it was still investigating Thursday’s events, but that the number of casualties was incorrect and not consistent with its own information.
The UN High Commissioner calls for the protection of civilians
Amid the desperate situation in northern Gaza, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on Friday called on the international community to protect the civilian population from serious human rights violations.
“We are confronted with what could amount to atrocities, which may also extend to crimes against humanity,” said Volker Türk.
The entire population in this area is affected by bombs, sieges, displacement and hunger, the diplomat said.
It is also “completely unacceptable” that Palestinian armed groups endanger their own people by intermingling with civilians, he stressed.
Türk made a direct appeal to the heads of state and government, imploring them to “put the protection of citizens and human rights first, and not to give up that minimum of humanity.”
Israeli forces reportedly storm the hospital
Separately, the Gaza health authority said on Friday that Israeli soldiers had stormed the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahia.
The soldiers also allegedly made arrests and shot at the building, smashing windows and blocking access to vital medical supplies through their encirclement of the facility.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed that units carried out an operation based on “intelligence information about the presence of terrorists and terrorist infrastructure in the area.”
It added that the hospital continues to function on an emergency basis, with patients having been transferred from the area in recent weeks.
Israeli authorities further said the hospital received fuel and blood, but the reports could not be independently verified.
