10 more Palestinians killed in Israel strikes

Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli strikes killed at least 10 people in the battered Palestinian territory on Thursday as the military keeps up an intensified offensive.

According to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, at least 4,335 people have been killed since Israel resumed its offensive on March 18, taking the war's overall toll to 54,607, mostly civilians.

"Ten martyrs so far resulting from Israeli strikes since dawn," agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told the media, adding that they had targeted an area where displaced civilians were sheltering in the southern city of Khan Yunis and houses in Gaza City and the central town of Deir Al Balah.

Palestinians mourn over the bodies at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on Wednesday. AP

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment.

Israel has stepped up its offensive in what it says is a bid to defeat Hamas, whose October 7, 2023 attack sparked the war.

Hamas's unprecedented attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Agence France-Presse