Gaza’s civil defence agency reported that a wave of Israeli air strikes killed more than 50 people in the Palestinian territory’s main city on Monday.
Agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal said the strikes pounded Gaza City throughout the day, hitting “schools, homes and even gatherings of people”.
Eleven people were killed and several others injured when an Israeli strike targeted a house belonging to the Jaradah and Abu Khater families in the city’s Shujaiya neighbourhood, the agency said in a statement.
Seven people were killed in a strike on a group of Palestinians on Al-Maamal Street in Gaza City, the agency reported.
And five people lost their lives in another strike that hit Salaheddin Al-Ayyubi School in the city’s Al-Darraj neighbourhood, it added.
The remaining casualties occurred in other strikes across Gaza City throughout the day, according to the agency. “There is no room in hospitals to receive the wounded,” Bassal told AFP.
The latest strikes came as officials from both Israel and Hamas stated that progress had been made in negotiations to reach a ceasefire deal that would also facilitate the release of dozens of hostages still being held in Gaza.