Three Palestinians were killed and 10 others injured in Israeli fresh airstrikes on the Gaza Strip on Monday, the seventh day since Israel launched a large-scale offensive on the coastal enclave, authorities said.

 

Two Palestinians, 37 and 17, were killed and three others were injured in two airstrikes on the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Younis, Xinhua quoted Ashraf al-Qedra, spokesperson of the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza, as saying.

 

Another Palestinian man died due to the wounds he sustained in an airstrike earlier in the day, al-Qedra added. He said that seven children were injured in two other separate airstrikes in Gaza city.

 

Since Israeli "Operation Protective Edge" on Gaza started early Tuesday, 178 Palestinians, including 35 children and 24 women, have been killed and 1,290 others injured, the spokesperson said.

 

Earlier in the day, the Hamas-run interior ministry warned the Palestinian residents in northern Gaza to stay in their homes and neighbourhoods and not to leave after Israel warned that it will intensify its offensive.

 

The ministry added in a statement that around 256 houses were destroyed since the beginning of Israeli operation on the Gaza Strip.