In a statement, it announced the resistance and Al-Qassam Brigades targeted the “Zionist military and security system”.

“We… categorically affirm the falsehood of the fabricated allegations promoted by some Western media outlets, which unprofessionally adopt the Zionist narrative full of lies and slander against our Palestinian people and their resistance, the latest of which was the claim of killing children, beheading them, and targeting civilians.”

More than 1,200 people have been killed in Israel since Saturday and over 3,000 wounded. Israel’s attacks on Gaza have resulted in the killing of more than 1,000 people while over 5,000 have been wounded.

Israeli broadcaster I24 and The Jewish Chronicle claimed that up to 40 Israeli babies were found murdered, including beheadings. The news was picked up by international media, making headlines in many news outlets.

However, Israeli army spokesperson unit told Anadolu on Wednesday that the Israeli army has no information confirming allegations that “Hamas beheaded babies”.

The incendiary weapon was reportedly used during attacks on the al-Karama complex, a collection of residential towers in northern Gaza, which housed hundreds of families.

“Israeli warplanes and artillery use internationally #prohibited_white_phosphorus, destroying #Al_Karama neighborhood in the northwest of Gaza City with a continuous series of airstrikes,” the ministry wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Tuesday night.

“There are casualties and wounded, while ambulances and civil defense vehicles are unable to reach the area due to the intensity of the airstrikes and the destruction of the leading roads,” the post added.

Middle East Eye’s sources on the ground reported seeing scenes consistent with past Israeli white phosphorus use in Gaza, including during the 2008 conflict.

Palestinian civil defence teams has also reported the deployment of the munition in Gaza.

Journalists told Middle East Eye that a chemical they believe to be white phosphorus was also used near the Roots Hotel close to the port of Gaza on Wednesday morning.

Eyewitnesses attempted to put out the burning flames of the phosphorus on the ground by trying to put sand on top of it.

The use of white phosphorus is banned in heavily populated areas under international law. Protocol 3 of the UN’s Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons “prohibits the use of weapons primarily designed to set fire to objects or cause burn injuries against civilians.”

As a weapon, white phosphorus is easily ignited, difficult to put out, burns at high temperatures and can spread fire rapidly.

According to eyewitnesses, Israeli warplanes and artillery units dropped around 100 bombs in the area while residents were still inside.

The attacks have resulted in mass fatalities, with Middle East Eye’s reporter on the scene witnessing uncollected bodies lying on the street on Wednesday morning, around 12 hours after the attack first began.

“It was heinous, indiscriminate bombardment without warning,” Abdelaziz Helo, a resident who survived the bombing, told Middle East Eye on Tuesday.

“People were in their homes when the bombs began raining down on the area hysterically. It turned it into a block of flame. No women, no children, no men were able to move or leave the area,” he added.

The bombardment comes as Israel prepares for a ground invasion of the besieged territory, having already cut off fuel, water and food supplies to the area.

At least 1,055 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since Palestinian fighters launched land, sea and air raids in a surprise assault on Saturday morning. More than 1,200 Israelis have been killed since Saturday.

“We’re changing the criteria . . . to make it possible for more and more people to be armed,” Itamar Ben-Gvir told reporters on Wednesday.

“This war proves how important it is to arm the citizenry . . . We’ve decided that from now on every Sderot resident will be able to carry a weapon.”

Local media reported that Sderot residents had been told to stay in bomb shelters until further notice on Wednesday morning, after paramedics confirmed several had been injured in multiple rocket strikes.

The far-right national security minister had announced his ministry is buying 10,000 guns to arm “civilian security teams” across the occupied territories.

The weapons, 4,000 of which have already been bought, will go to the towns close to the borders, but also to illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank and to mixed Palestinian-Jewish cities, like Haifa.

Ben-Gvir is a hardline Jewish settler who has past convictions for supporting terrorism and incitement against Palestinians.