Hamas-run authorities in the strip say at least 33 people, including 21 women, have been killed in an Israeli air strike on a refugee camp in northern Gaza.
There was no immediate comment on the reported attack in Jabaliya from Israel, whose forces have been besieging the densely populated camp for weeks.
Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar murdered this week There was hope in some circles for an end to the war but the group’s deputy leader said Hamas would only get stronger.
US President Joe Biden has said there is a possibility of “working towards a ceasefire” in Lebanon, where Israel is fighting Hezbollah militants, but that it will be “more difficult” in Gaza.
He was speaking as he left the German capital Berlin, where he met German, French and British leaders.
Friday’s airstrike wounded more than 85 people, some seriously, as homes of three families in the camp were hit, according to a statement from Gaza’s Hamas-run government media office.
It said the final death toll could reach 50, as people remained buried under the debris of buildings.
The report could not be independently verified. Local sources indicate that northern Gaza is effectively isolated, with telecommunications and internet services cut off in the area.
A video circulating on social media – which has not been confirmed by the BBC – showed bodies wrapped in white shrouds lying in the courtyard of Al-Awda hospital.
The hospital director spoke to reporters about the huge number of casualties.
“Ambulance personnel are still trying to evacuate the martyrs and injured from Jabaliya,” the director said.
“Our hospital wards are completely full and many injured people are being treated on the floor.”
The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said at least 39 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks on Friday, most of them in Jabaliya, before the latest attack, according to Reuters news agency.
About 400,000 people have been trapped inside the camp for more than two weeks with little food or water.
The head of the UN humanitarian aid office, Georgios Petropoulos, told the BBC’s NewsHour program that families in Jabaliya were enduring “atrocious conditions”.
“We cannot raise the alarm about how serious and dangerous the situation is for civilians there,” he said, speaking from Rafah in southern Gaza.
Israel said it had sent about 30 lorries containing food, water, medical supplies and shelter equipment to northern Gaza on Friday, but local health officials told Reuters the aid was not reaching the worst-hit areas such as Jabaliya.
Israel has repeatedly denied that it is blocking humanitarian aid from entering Gaza, but the US has asked it to boost access or risk cuts to some US military aid.
Amichai Chikli, an Israeli minister, told the BBC that Israel had “blockade” parts of northern Gaza, including Jabaliya.
“We allowed the civilian population to escape to a safe zone, and we prevented supplies from entering the blockade zone,” he told the NewsHour program.
He insisted it was “legitimate in accordance with international law”.
Hamas-run authorities say at least 42,500 people have been killed and thousands wounded in Gaza since the Hamas-led attack on Israel a year ago.
About 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken to Gaza as hostages in the 7 October 2023 attack by Hamas and its allies.
On Friday, Hamas deputy leader Khalil al-Haya said Israeli hostages would not be returned until Israel ends the war and withdraws from Gaza.
Sinwar was held responsible for the 7 October attack. He was killed in gunfire after “tank fire” hit the building where he was hiding in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, according to the Israeli military.
The pathologist who performed his autopsy in Israel told American media that he had been shot in the head.
Dr. Chen Kugel also discovered that his right arm was damaged by “missile fire”, his left leg was damaged by “fallen masonry” and shrapnel injuries.
