The Civil Defence said strikes hit several homes near Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya, killing at least 10 people. And in the urban Jabaliya refugee camp nearby, residents reported a heavy wave of artillery and airstrikes.

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Abdel-Kareem Radwan, 48, said the whole eastern side has become a battle zone where Israeli fighter jets “strike anything that moves”.

Mahmoud Bassal, a spokesman for the Civil Defence, said rescuers had recovered at least 150 bodies, more than half of them women and children, since Israel launched the operation in Jabaliya last week.

Israel launched its offensive after Hamas’ October 7 attack in which militants stormed into southern Israel, killing about 1200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting about 250. Mourners gathered on Sunday for the funeral of one of four hostages killed in the attack whose bodies were recently found by Israeli troops in Gaza.

The war has killed at least 35,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between combatants and civilians. About 80 per cent of the population of 2.3 million Palestinians have been displaced within the territory, often multiple times.

“We need a decent life to live,” said Reem Al-Bayed, who left Gaza City and shelters with thousands in the coastal Muwasi camp in the south without basic facilities like wells. “All countries live a decent life except us.”

She took a quick mouthful of bread before tearing the rest into pieces for half a dozen children, then poured them a can of beans.

Israel says it tries to avoid harming civilians and blames the high death toll on Hamas, which it says operates in dense residential areas.

Netanyahu’s critics, including thousands of Israeli protesters, accuse him of prolonging the war and rejecting a ceasefire deal so he can avoid a reckoning over security failures. They also seek early elections in which polls show that Gantz, a political centrist, would likely succeed Netanyahu. That would expose Netanyahu to prosecution on longstanding corruption allegations.

Netanyahu denies any political motives and says the offensive must continue until Hamas is dismantled and the estimated 100 hostages still held with the remains of more than 30 others are returned.

Netanyahu also faces pressure from Israel’s closest ally, the United States, which has provided military aid and diplomatic cover for the offensive while expressing growing frustration with Israel’s conduct of the war and the humanitarian crisis.

US President Joe Biden’s administration recently held up a shipment of 3500 bombs and said the US would not provide offensive weapons for a full-scale invasion of Rafah, citing fears of a humanitarian catastrophe.

Last week, after Israel launched what it called a limited operation in Rafah, the Biden administration told legislators it would move forward with the sale of $US1 billion ($1.5 billion) worth of arms, according to congressional aides.

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The Palestinian Crossings Authority in a statement said humanitarian aid has not entered through the vital Rafah border crossing with Egypt since the military operation began almost two weeks ago.

AP

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