Around 47 people have been killed and many others injured in Israeli overnight airstrikes on the centre of the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian local media reported on Friday.

The strikes hit the Nuseirat refugee camp and the towns of Deir al-Balad and al-Zawaida.

Residential areas where displaced people were being housed were targeted, according to reports.

Many of the dead were women and children, the report said.

Witnesses reported that following the initial strikes, residents rushed to help those affected, only to be targeted again by subsequent bombings.

“Search and rescue operations are ongoing as efforts continue to locate missing individuals trapped under the rubble,” the report added.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said they were checking the reports.

An IDF statement said operations were continuing in the centre of the Gaza Strip

“The troops identified and eliminated a number of armed terrorists operating in the area,” the IDF posted on X.

IDF operations also continued in Jabalia, to the north of the Gaza Strip, and in Rafah, to the south.

In both areas, military positions had been attacked and several Palestinians killed, the IDF reported, terming them “terrorists.”

(dpa/NAN)