Gaza, Feb 23 : At least 40 Palestinians were killed and 100 others injured in Israeli airstrikes on the central Gaza Strip, the media office of the Hamas-run government in Gaza has said in a press statement.

Israeli aircraft on Thursday launched "several raids" on a number of residential houses in the city of Deir el-Balah, which led to their "complete destruction", Xinhua news agency reported, citing Palestinian security sources.

The Hamas-run Health Ministry noted that the bodies of some victims had been transferred to the al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.

Ambulances and civil defence teams rushed to the sites of the attacks to save people after the Israeli raids left the neighbourhood severely damaged, the security sources added.

Medical sources said that the al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital is now crowded with thousands of wounded, sick and displaced people.

/IANS