At least eight Palestinians were killed and 20 others injured Friday when an Israeli drone struck a civilian gathering during the funeral of a Palestinian who had been killed earlier by Israeli forces in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, despite a ceasefire.

The strike raised the number of Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza since dawn Friday to 13 and to 25 over the past 72 hours, according to Gaza authorities.

Al-Awda Hospital in the Nuseirat refugee camp said in a statement that it received the bodies of eight people and treated 20 injured after an Israeli strike targeted a gathering of civilians in the Al-Balata market area.

Eyewitnesses told Anadolu that the drone targeted Palestinians gathered outside the Ahmad Yassin Mosque as they waited to begin the funeral procession.

The funeral was for a Palestinian who had been killed by Israeli forces earlier Friday, the witnesses said.

Videos circulating on social media showed several bodies and wounded people lying on the ground, with blood covering their clothes and bodies.

Commenting on the attack, the Gaza Media Office said the Israeli army had killed more than 25 Palestinians over the past 72 hours in attacks targeting markets, funerals, civilian gatherings and residential homes.

In a statement, the office said it was "following with grave concern the systematic criminal escalation carried out by the Israeli occupation army against unarmed civilians in Gaza, in blatant defiance of all agreements, conventions, customs and international humanitarian law."

It added that "the killings and the war of genocide continue at an escalating pace, carried out through a policy of bombing popular markets, funerals, peaceful civilian gatherings and safe residential apartments over the heads of their inhabitants."

The office said the attacks "constitute a clear entrenchment of a policy of terrorism directed against every living being in the Gaza Strip."

The attack came as Israel continued to violate the ceasefire agreement that has been in effect since Oct. 10, 2025.

According to Gaza's Health Ministry, Israeli ceasefire violations had killed 1,127 Palestinians and injured 3,643 others as of Thursday.

The ministry says Israel's military campaign in Gaza since October 2023 has killed more than 73,000 Palestinians and wounded over 173,000, while causing widespread destruction to about 90% of the enclave's civilian infrastructure. (AA)

Update news