Israeli air strikes killed at least 50 Palestinians in Gaza , local health authorities said, as Israel continues its bombardment despite mounting international pressure to stop military operations and allow aid into Gaza unimpeded.
The attacks were carried out on two homes, where women and children were among the 18 dead, and a school housing displaced families, among other areas, according to Gaza medics.
Israel’s military, which has warned those in the southern Gazan city of Khan Younis to evacuate to the coast as it prepared for an “unprecedented attack”, had no immediate comment.
Today’s strikes were carried out on Khan Younis and areas to the north, including Deir al-Balah, Nuseirat, Jabalia, and Gaza City, the medics said.
Israeli strikes have killed more than 500 people in the past eight days as the military campaign has intensified, they say.
Israel’s military said on Monday it allowed five aid trucks into Gaza after a more than two-month blockade of food and other supplies.
The UN has long said Gaza, with a population of about 2.3 million, needs at least 500 trucks of aid and commercial goods every day.
Throughout the war, trucks with aid have waited weeks and months at Gaza’s border to enter.
The war, now in its 20th month, has strained Israel’s relations with much of the international community and those with its closest ally, the United States, now appear to be wavering.
The leaders of Britain, France and Canada warned they could take “concrete actions” against Israel if it did not stop military operations in Gaza and lift its restrictions on aid.