Hospital officials in northern Gaza say that many people have died in Israeli airstrikes overnight.
Rescue groups in Gaza said search operations began early this morning after Israel bombed at least five buildings in Beit Lahia and Gaza City.
Hamas-aligned media outlets say scores of people have died and many are still buried in the rubble – including women and children.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. It has recently stepped up its offensive in northern Gaza, saying it is preventing Hamas from regrouping.
The northern parts of Gaza are under Israeli siege as well almost no relief aid has been delivered in 40 daysthe UN warned earlier.
Doctors in Gaza say they are struggling to treat the wounded, aid organizations say they are unable to find essential supplies in the area.
Earlier this week, at least 34 people were killed in an Israeli air strike in a five-story residential building in Beit Lahia, the civil defense said.
The agency quoted by AFP said most of the dead were women and children.
Israel’s offensive in northern Gaza has left some 130,000 people dead in the past five weeks.
The UN says 75,000 people remain under siege with dwindling water and food in the towns of Beit Lahia, Jabalia and Beit Hanoun.
A report last week by Human Rights Watch said that Israel has committed war crimes and crimes against humanity by deliberately expelling Palestinians from Gaza.
About 1.9 million people – 90 percent of Gaza’s population – fled their homes last year, and 79 percent of the area is under evacuation orders issued by Israel, according to the UN.
Israel launched a campaign to destroy Hamas following the group’s unprecedented attack in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which approximately 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were captured.
About 44,000 people have been killed and more than 104,000 injured in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in the area.
Wednesday, The US blocked a resolution to stop the Gaza fire at the UN Security Council – the fourth time it used its veto power during the conflict to protect its ally, Israel.
14 out of 15 council members voted in favor of the draft, which demanded that the war in Gaza “must end immediately, unconditionally and permanently and all remaining hostages must be released immediately and unconditionally”.
The US deputy ambassador to the UN, Robert Wood, said the document had “abandoned” the need for there to be “a link between the ceasefire and the release of the hostages”.
Wood said the proposed resolution would send a “dangerous message” to Hamas.
In another development, American mediator Amos Hochstein has arrived in Israel from Beirut.
He said he sees a “real opportunity” to end the conflict in Lebanon after the Lebanese government and Hezbollah largely agreed to a US ceasefire proposal.
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