Later in the day, Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said Israeli shelling killed 20 people, mostly women and children, in the Shaboura camp in Rafah on the southern border with Egypt.
AFP footage from the city showed bloodied people being carried through the streets to a nearby Kuwaiti hospital, where medical staff were racing to treat a flood of injured patients, including children. AFP could not immediately confirm whether they were victims of the same attack.
The war in Gaza, which began with a Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, has devastated much of the north of the territory, while the battle front has shifted to the south.
Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas in retaliation for the attack, which killed some 1,140 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli data.
About 250 hostages were also taken during the attack, more than half of whom remain captive – a source of intense concern for their families, who protested in Jerusalem on Thursday demanding “bring them home”.
Israel’s sustained aerial bombardment and ground attacks on Gaza have killed at least 21,320 people, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.