Gaza officials said on Saturday that more than 200 people had been killed in Israeli strikes in 24 hours, as violence rages on after a UN resolution demanded more aid into the besieged territory.
Israel pressed on with its offensive focusing on the southern Gaza Strip, with clouds of grey and black smoke rising over Khan Yunis city. AFPTV images also showed black smoke drifting over the north.
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza reported 201 deaths in the past 24 hours across the territory, updating the death toll since the start of the war to 20,258, most of them women and children.
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Fighting began on October 7 when Hamas broke through Gaza’s border and killed about 1,140 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.
Israel in response vowed to destroy Hamas and launched a relentless bombardment and ground invasion of Gaza.
Saturday’s strikes came after the Security Council approved a resolution demanding “immediate, safe and unhindered” deliveries of life-saving aid to Gaza “at scale”.
It also called for the creation of “conditions for a sustainable cessation of hostilities”, but did not seek an immediate end to combat.
18 people killed
The Palestinian health ministry said on Saturday 18 people were killed in a strike on a house at the central Nuseirat refugee camp, and reported others up and down the Gaza Strip.
At Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, men gently led a weeping woman who had seen the bodies of relatives. A man crouched down in tears, his hand resting on a black body bag. Outside, others prayed before another corpse.
“This is a genocide,” said Rafat Al Aydi, standing before the bodies which lay under a bush of bright red flowers.