GAZA/JERUSALEM/RAMALLAH/UNITED NATIONS - At least 47 Palestinians were killed in Israeli shelling and gunfire across Gaza on Monday, according to Palestinian sources.

Mahmoud Basal, spokesperson for the Civil Defense in Gaza, told Xinhua that in central Gaza, five people were killed and four others injured in an Israeli airstrike on a Palestinian gathering in the Bureij refugee camp, and one person was killed in an Israeli airstrike on a water distribution tanker in the al-Nuseirat refugee camp,

Three were killed in an Israeli airstrike on an apartment building in the al-Nasr neighborhood, west of Gaza City, and five others were killed in an airstrike on a gathering in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, north of the city, Basal said.

Nine were killed, including a woman, and dozens of others wounded in Israeli shelling of several homes and a gathering in the Shuja'iyya, Zeitoun, Tal al-Hawa, and al-Sabra neighborhoods east and south of the city, he said.

Two were killed in Israeli shelling on the Jabalia area, northern Gaza, he said.

ALSO READ: Israel says to discuss permanent Gaza ceasefire if Hamas disarms

Meanwhile, Palestinian medical sources said 20 people were killed by Israeli airstrikes on tents housing displaced persons in various parts of Khan Younis, and two were killed by Israeli gunfire near a US-backed aid center north of Rafah, southern Gaza.

Palestinian armed factions in Gaza said in separate statements that they have engaged in armed clashes east of al-Tuffah, Jabalia, and Khan Younis.

Hamas said it targeted with a missile an Israeli armored personnel carrier with a soldier on board north of Khan Younis. The Islamic Jihad movement said it blew up several Israeli military vehicles in al-Tuffah, eastern Gaza.

Also on Monday, Hamas accused in a press statement the Israeli army of waging a "systematic water war" against Gaza residents.

In a separate development, the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs warned Monday that the continued absence of international deterrence mechanisms is encouraging Israeli settlers to escalate violations against Palestinians and their property in the West Bank.

3 Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza

Three Israeli soldiers were killed in a tank explosion during a ground offensive in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on Monday, the Israeli military said.

Hamas' armed wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, said on its Telegram channel that three died after "the resistance targeted their tank during the battles in the Gaza Strip."

The military identified the soldiers as Staff Sergeant Shoham Menahem, 21, Sergeant Shlomo Yakir Shrem, 20, and Sergeant Yuliy Faktor, 19, all from the 52nd Armored Corps Battalion of the 401st Brigade. An officer was also seriously wounded in the incident.

It was not immediately clear what caused the explosion. 

Also on Monday, the Israeli army killed a young Palestinian man near the city of Jenin in the northern West Bank, said the Ramallah-based Health Ministry.

"We were informed by the Palestinian General Authority for Civil Affairs of the killing of Yousef Walid Abdullah Sheikh Ibrahim, 20, from the town of Kafr Ra'i, by Israeli army fire near Jenin," the ministry said in a press statement.

It added that the Israeli army held the body of the victim.

Israel strikes Syrian tanks 

Meanwhile, the Israeli military said Monday it struck several Syrian army tanks in southern Syria, amid escalating clashes between Druze militias and Bedouin tribes in southern Syria's Sweida province.

In a statement, the military said it identified Syrian tanks advancing between al-Mazra'ah and Sami' towards Sweida, and carried out strikes "to prevent their arrival in the area."

"The presence of these assets in southern Syria may pose a threat to the State of Israel," the statement said, adding that it "will not allow the establishment of a military threat in southern Syria and will operate against it."

The military said it continues monitoring developments in the area.

ALSO READ: Israeli plan clouds Gaza truce talks

UN: Gaza situation horrific

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday described the situation in Gaza as "horrific."

"What we are witnessing in Gaza is a level of death and destruction that has no parallel in recent times," he told reporters.

There were reports of more civilian casualties over the weekend, including children, during attacks that felled people seeking aid.

Guterres said the violence undermines the most basic conditions of human dignity for the population of Gaza, "independently of the enormous suffering that they are having."

The UN chief reiterated his plea for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.

On March 18, Israel resumed its military operations in the enclave. At least 7,568 Palestinians have been killed and 27,036 others injured since Israel renewed its intensive strikes, bringing the total death toll since October 2023 to 58,386, and injuries to 139,077, Gaza-based health authorities said Monday.

Violence in the West Bank has surged since the outbreak of the Gaza war. According to UN figures, Israeli settlers have escalated attacks against Palestinians, while Israeli military raids have killed about 1,000 Palestinians in the territory.