Gaza, Nov 4 (IANS): Nine Palestinians, including four children, were killed in an Israeli airstrike on the southern Gaza Strip, Palestinian sources said.

Local sources and eyewitnesses told Xinhua on Sunday that an Israeli drone targeted a gathering of Palestinians in the Sheikh Nasser area, east of Khan Younis city.

Paramedics reported that medical workers retrieved the bodies of the victims, and transferred several others with varying injuries to hospitals, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement on Sunday that IDF troops are continuing operational activities in central and southern Gaza, locating weaponry and eliminating militant cells.

Also on Sunday, Varsen Aghabekian Shahin, Palestine's minister of state for foreign affairs and expatriates, received a European Parliament delegation at the Ministry's headquarters in Ramallah, central West Bank.

During the meeting, Shahin discussed with the delegation the latest developments concerning the war in Gaza, according to a Ministry statement.

Shahin emphasised the importance of cooperation with international partners to stop the killings in Gaza and build on the international recognitions and court rulings that affirm the Palestinian people's right to self-determination, it said in a statement.

Israel has been launching a large-scale offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip to retaliate against a Hamas rampage through the southern Israeli border on October 7, 2023, during which about 1,200 people were killed and nearly 250 taken hostage.

The Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks in Gaza has risen to 43,341, Gaza-based health authorities said in a statement on Sunday.