Casualties rise as Israeli airstrikes target humanitarian zone in Gaza

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Ten people, including women and children, were killed in a tent designated as a humanitarian area in western Khan Younis in Palestine on Thursday, according to medics.

Fifteen people were also wounded, the medics added. The Israeli military has not immediately commented.

Earlier airstrikes in Shejaia, a suburb of Gaza City, killed at least eight Palestinians, according to local emergency services.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military and it was not immediately clear who was killed in the attack.

In al-Buriej, in the centre of the strip, the Israeli military said it struck a militant operating in an area from which rockets had been fired into Israel the previous day.

Its Arabic spokesperson had ordered people to leave the area before the strike.

The al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital said a woman and a child were killed in the strike.

At least six infants and another person have died of hypothermia

Israel says its almost three-month-old campaign in the northern Gaza Strip is aimed at preventing Hamas militants from regrouping.

Its instructions to civilians to leave are meant to keep them out of harm’s way, the military says.

Palestinian and United Nations officials say no place is safe in the enclave and that evacuation orders worsen the humanitarian conditions of the population.

According to the Palestinian civil defence, more than 1,500 tents sheltering displaced people across the Gaza Strip were flooded by heavy rains over the past two days, leaving people exposed to the cold and their belongings damaged.

Palestinians in Khan Yunis struggle with harsh weather in makeshift tents amid ongoing Israeli attacks

Palestinians sheltering in tents in Gaza have recently faced heavy rain and winter temperatures. Source: Anadolu, Getty / Abed Rahim Khatib

Hundreds of thousands of Gazans are living in tents on the coast as winter brings frequent rainstorms and temperatures drop below 10C at night.

At least six infants and another person have died of hypothermia, according to the enclave’s health ministry.

Israel has killed more than 45,500 Palestinians in the war in Gaza, according to Palestinian health officials. Most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been displaced, and

The significant escalation in the long-running conflict was triggered by , in which 1,200 people were killed and another 251 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.

Palestinian Authority suspends Al Jazeera broadcasts

Meanwhile, The Palestinian Authority (PA) ordered the suspension of broadcasts by Qatar-based Al Jazeera across the Palestinian territories on Wednesday, accusing the network of airing “inciting content”, official media reported.

“The specialised ministerial committee, comprising the ministries of culture, interior and communications, has decided to suspend broadcasts and freeze all activities of Al Jazeera satellite channel and its office in Palestine,” the official Wafa news agency said.

“The decision also includes temporarily freezing the work of all journalists, employees, crews and affiliated channels until their legal status is rectified due to Al Jazeera’s violations of the laws and regulations in force in Palestine,” the report said.

“This decision comes in response to Al Jazeera’s insistence on broadcasting inciting content and reports characterised by misinformation, incitement, sedition and interference in Palestinian internal affairs,” it added.

An Al Jazeera employee contacted by AFP confirmed that the network’s office in Ramallah had received a suspension order on Wednesday.

Later on Wednesday, the channel aired images of what appeared to be Palestinian security officers entering the network’s office in Ramallah and handing over the suspension orders, but there was still no reaction from the channel to the Palestinian Authority’s move.

Hamas and allied militant group Islamic Jihad condemned the decision to ban the network.

Tensions between Al Jazeera and Fatah movement

Tensions between the Doha-based network and the Fatah movement of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, have risen in recent weeks following the channel’s coverage of clashes between Palestinian security forces and militants in Jenin.

In late December, the channel condemned what it said was an “incitement campaign” by Fatah against the network in some areas of the occupied West Bank.

“This campaign follows the network’s coverage of clashes between Palestinian security forces and resistance fighters in Jenin,” it said at the time.

“During its coverage of the tragic events in Jenin, Al Jazeera ensured the presence of all voices, including those of the resistance fighters and the spokesperson for the Palestinian security forces.”

Israel's government moves to shut down the operations of the Al Jazeera television network in the country image

The security forces of the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited control over the West Bank, have been engaged in deadly clashes with gunmen since early December, triggered by the arrests of several militants.

They are fighting members of the Jenin Battalion, most of whom are affiliated with either Islamic Jihad or Hamas.

The violence in Jenin refugee camp — — has killed 11 people, including PA security personnel, militants and civilians.

The Palestinian Authority’s decision comes more than three months after

The network is already banned from broadcasting from Israel amid a long-running feud with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, which has only worsened during the ongoing war in Gaza.