Death toll rises as Israeli strikes continue in Gaza

Palestinians inspect a house destroyed by an Israeli airstrike
Israeli strikes killed more than 20 in Gaza's north, south and central areas, local authorities say. -AP

Israeli military strikes have killed at least 23 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip, including a local journalist and a senior rescue service official, local health authorities say.

The deaths on Sunday in the Israeli campaign resulted from separate strikes in Khan Younis in the south, Jabalia in the north and Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip, medics say.

In Jabalia, they said local journalist Hassan Majdi Abu Warda and several family members were killed by an airstrike that hit his house earlier on Sunday.

Another airstrike in Nuseirat killed Ashraf Abu Nar, a senior official in the territory's civil emergency service, and his wife in their house, medics added.

There was no immediate comment by the Israeli military.

The Hamas-run Gaza government media office said that Abu Warda's death raised to 220 the number of Palestinian journalists killed in Gaza since October 7, 2023.

In a separate statement, the media office said Israeli forces were in control of 77 per cent of the Gaza Strip, either through ground forces or evacuation orders and bombardment that keeps residents away from their homes.

The armed wing of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad said in separate statements on Sunday that fighters carried out several ambushes and attacks using bombs and anti-tank rockets against Israeli forces operating in several areas across Gaza.

On Friday the Israeli military said it had conducted more strikes in Gaza overnight, hitting 75 targets including weapons storage facilities and rocket launchers.

Israel launched an air and ground war in Gaza after Hamas militants' cross-border attack on October 7, 2023, which killed 1200 people by Israeli tallies with 251 hostages abducted into Gaza.

The conflict has killed more than 53,900 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, and devastated the coastal strip. Aid groups say signs of severe malnutrition are widespread.

Also on Sunday, the Israeli military said it had intercepted a missile launched from Yemen towards Israel in an attack by Yemen's Houthis.

Sirens sounded in several areas in the country, the Israeli military said earlier.

Since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023, Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis have continued to fire missiles at Israel in what they say is solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

Most of the group's missiles have been intercepted or have fallen short.

Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group was responsible for Sunday's attack, adding that it fired a missile towards Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv.

US President Donald Trump announced this month that the U.S. would stop bombing the Houthis in Yemen because the group had agreed to stop attacking U.S. ships under an Oman-mediated ceasefire deal. However, the accord did not include Israel