(rpt, correcting date)
Gaza, Apr 26 (UNI) At least 21 Palestinians were killed on Friday in Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip, according to Gaza's civil defence authorities.
Mahmoud Basal, spokesperson for the civil defence, reported that nine people were killed and several others injured when Israeli aircraft struck a house east of al-Fakhari town, southeast of Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
Additional airstrikes were reported in Gaza City and other areas around Khan Younis, Basal added. The Israeli army has not issued a comment regarding these incidents.
In Gaza City, heavy clashes erupted between Palestinian armed factions and Israeli forces in the Shuja'iyya and Tuffah neighbourhoods. The confrontations were accompanied by intense Israeli air and artillery bombardments, as well as smoke shells. Multiple explosions were heard, with thick plumes of smoke rising over the area, according to Palestinian sources.
In a statement on Friday, Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee said that troops from the 401st Brigade of the 252nd Division had been operating in the area for several weeks, targeting "terrorist organisations". He noted that an Israeli drone had killed the members of a Palestinian cell responsible for firing an anti-tank missile from a building. No Israeli casualties were reported in that incident.
Meanwhile, in southern Gaza, six Israeli soldiers were wounded during what was described as a "security incident", with one in serious condition, according to Israel's state-owned Kan TV. Adraee confirmed that a reservist from the 5250th Battalion was seriously wounded during clashes in the southern Gaza Strip.
Abu Obeida, spokesperson for the al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, said in a separate statement that their fighters carried out ambushes and targeted Israeli troops.
Since Israel resumed its intensified military campaign on March 18, at least 2,062 Palestinians have been killed and 5,375 injured, bringing the overall death toll in Gaza since the war began in October 2023 to 51,439, with a total of 117,416 people injured, according to health authorities in Gaza.
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