The Israeli military said it used “precise munitions, aerial surveillance and additional means”. It did not immediately describe to limit civilian casualties.

Gaza’s Health Ministry says more than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the war began. It does not differentiate between fighters and civilians in its count. The war has caused vast destruction and displaced around 90 per cent of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million, often multiple times.

Hamas-led militants killed some 1200 people, mostly civilians, in their October 7 attack. They abducted another 250 and are still holding around 100 after releasing most of the rest in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel during a weeklong cease-fire last November. Around a third of the remaining hostages are believed to be dead.

Meanwhile, the United Nations agency in charge of aid for displaced Palestinians said the Israeli military stopped a convoy for more than eight hours on Monday, despite it coordinating with the troops.

The agency’s head Philippe Lazzarini said the staffers who were held had been trying to work on a polio vaccination campaign in northern Gaza and Gaza City. “The convoy was stopped at gun point just after the Wadi Gaza checkpoint with threats to detain UN staff,” he wrote on the social platform X. “Heavy damage was caused by bulldozers to the UN armoured vehicles.”

He said the staff and the convoy later returned to a UN base but it was unclear if a polio vaccination campaign would take place in northern Gaza on Tuesday.

“UN Staff must be allowed to undertake their duties in safety + be protected at all times in accordance with international humanitarian law,” he wrote. “Gaza is no different.” The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The vaccination drive, launched after doctors discovered the first polio case in the Palestinian enclave in 25 years, aims to vaccinate 640,000 children during a war that has destroyed the health care system.

More to come