An Israeli airstrike on a house in the central Gaza Strip killed at least 22 Palestinians and wounded others on Friday, Palestinian security and medical sources said.

The sources told Xinhua that the house in Deir el-Balah was sheltering displaced people when it was hit by the Israeli attack. The dead and injured, mostly children, were taken to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the city.

Civil defense crews were searching for survivors under the rubble of the house amid reports of missing people, according to the sources.