Tel Aviv, Aug 17: At least 16 Palestinians were killed by Israeli bombings in the Al-Zawaida area in central Gaza Strip, Palestinian official news agency WAFA reported Saturday.

Israeli warplanes bombed overnight a shack and a house belonging to the Al-Ajl family near the entrance to Al-Zawaida, also injuring dozens of others who were transferred to a hospital in the city of Deir al-Balah, WAFA said, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement Saturday that it was continuing operations in the central and southern Gaza Strip.

Over the past day, Israeli Air Force aircraft eliminated about 40 targets, including military structures, weapons storage facilities, and more, it added.

The Israeli army's fighting in the Gaza Strip has ended, Israel's state-owned Kan TV news claimed late on Friday night.

Citing senior security officials, Kan TV said that Israel can return and re-enter Gaza "when there is new intelligence", but in general, the Israeli military's activity in the Palestinian enclave is over.

Israel has been on a large-scale offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip to retaliate against a Hamas rampage through the southern Israeli border on October 7, 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 250 were taken hostage.

The Palestinian death toll from the ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has risen to 40,005, Gaza-based health authorities said in a statement on Thursday.

(IANS)

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