More than 100 people have been killed in Gaza within 24 hours, officials there have said – the deadliest day recorded in a week.
The Gaza health ministry said 123 people were killed, adding to the tens of thousands of fatalities during the near two-year war raging in the Strip.
It comes as officials said Israel’s planned re-seizure of Gaza City, which it took in the early days of the war before withdrawing, is likely weeks away.
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Eastern areas of Gaza City were bombed heavily by Israeli planes and tanks, according to residents, who said that many homes were destroyed in the Zeitoun and Shejaia neighbourhoods overnight.
Al-Ahli hospital said 12 people were killed in an airstrike on a house in Zeitoun.
Israeli tanks also destroyed several homes in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, Palestinian medics said.
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They added that in central Gaza, Israeli gunfire killed nine people seeking aid in two separate incidents. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) did not comment on this.
The number of Palestinians who died of starvation and malnutrition in Gaza has risen to 235, including 106 children, since the war began, following the death of eight more people, including three children, in the past 24 hours, the Gaza health ministry said.
The malnutrition and hunger death figures have been reported by the Hamas-run ministry and have been disputed by Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday: “If we had a starvation policy, no one in Gaza would have survived after two years of war.”
He also repeated the allegation that Hamas has been looting aid trucks and claimed uncollected food has been “rotting” at the border, blaming the UN for not distributing it.
The latest death figures come as Hamas held further talks with Egyptian mediators in Cairo with a focus on stopping the war, delivering aid and “enduring the suffering of our people in Gaza”, an official for the group said in a statement.
Egyptian security sources said the possibility of a comprehensive ceasefire would also be discussed.
This would see Hamas relinquish governance in Gaza and concede its weapons, with a Hamas official saying the group was open to all ideas as long as Israel would end the war and pull out of Gaza.
But the official added that “laying down arms before the occupation is dismissed as impossible”.
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Meanwhile, Mr Netanyahu reiterated that Palestinians should simply leave Gaza, an idea which has also been enthusiastically floated by US President Donald Trump.
“They’re not being pushed out, they’ll be allowed to exit,” Mr Netanyahu told Israeli television channel i24NEWS. “All those who are concerned for the Palestinians and say they want to help the Palestinians should open their gates and stop lecturing us.”
World leaders have rejected the idea of displacing the Gaza population, and Mr Netanyahu’s plan to expand military control over Gaza, which Israeli sources said could be launched in October, has increased global outcry over the widespread devastation, displacement and hunger in the enclave.
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The humanitarian crisis in Gaza is at “unimaginable levels”, Britain and 26 partners said in a statement on Tuesday, warning: “Famine is unfolding before our eyes.”
The statement added: “Urgent action is needed now to halt and reverse starvation. Humanitarian space must be protected, and aid should never be politicised.”
It was signed by the foreign ministers of Australia, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK.
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The war in Gaza began on 7 October 2023 when Hamas killed about 1,200 people – mostly civilians – and abducted 251 others in its attack.
Most of the hostages have been released in ceasefires or other deals. It is believed Hamas is still holding 50 captives, with 20 believed to be alive.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 61,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, which does not differentiate between militants and civilians in its count.
