GAZA - At least 30 Palestinians were killed on Saturday evening by the Israeli bombing on the town of Beit Lahia in the north of the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian official news agency WAFA reported.

The Israeli army shelled a residential square that includes at least five houses, and the victims included women and children, WAFA said.

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Local residents told Xinhua that neither the Civil Defense nor the medical teams could reach the area, forcing the locals to transfer the casualties using donkey carts or on foot.

The Israeli army has not commented on this incident.

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

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The Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip has risen to 42,924, the Gaza-based health authorities said in a statement on Saturday.