GAZA, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Israeli airstrikes on Friday claimed the lives of at least 22 Palestinians, including a journalist, as fuel shortages threaten to plunge Gaza into a communications blackout, officials warned.
The Civil Defense in Gaza reported eight fatalities and several injuries from an airstrike targeting a group of people and a house in the Shuja'iyya neighborhood of Gaza City. Later, an airstrike on the Al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza killed seven people.
In southern Gaza's Khan Younis, medical officials at Nasser Hospital said that four bodies were recovered after aerial and artillery attacks struck multiple locations in the city. In Al-Nuseirat, central Gaza, Al-Awda Hospital reported three deaths, including journalist Sa'ed Nabhan of Al-Ghad TV, and six injuries from artillery shelling and drone strikes.
With the death of Nabhan, the number of journalists killed since the conflict began on Oct. 7, 2023, has risen to 203, according to the government media office in Gaza.
Meanwhile, Gaza's Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Abdul Razzaq Al-Natsha, warned that communication services, including internet and landlines, could be cut off by Friday night due to fuel shortages. The lack of fuel, exacerbated by Israel's blockade of humanitarian supplies, threatens to disrupt emergency services and worsen the already dire humanitarian crisis, he said.
The ongoing conflict, now surpassing 460 days, began after a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which left over 1,200 Israelis dead and roughly 250 hostages taken. Israel's large-scale military response in Gaza has caused over 46,000 Palestinian deaths, according to Gaza health authorities. ■
