Israeli forces are intensifying their attacks on the outskirts of Gaza City, residents say, as the military steps up preparations for a ground offensive to conquer it.
Hospitals said women and children were among more than 30 Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes in the city on Wednesday, most of them in the north and west.
The Israeli military's chief of staff vowed to continue striking Hamas's centres of gravity until it is defeated and its hostages freed.
The UN and aid groups said the Israeli operations were already having horrific humanitarian consequences for displaced families sheltering in the city, which is home to a million people and where a famine was declared last month.
Meanwhile, Israeli protesters took part in what they called a day of disruption to press their government to immediately agree on a deal that would end the war in return for the release of all 48 Israeli and foreign hostages in Gaza, with 20 believed to be alive.
Hospital officials reported that Israeli strikes and gunfire across the Gaza Strip have killed at least 46 people since midnight. The Shifa hospital in Gaza City received the bodies of 21 victims, including five killed in an airstrike targeting an apartment.
Eyewitness accounts revealed that one of the strikes killed three-year-old Ibrahim al-Mabhuh's parents and siblings. His grandmother discovered him under the rubble, marking him as the sole survivor of the attack.
The Israeli military has stated that they are assessing the reported incidents, while claims of humanitarian crises continue to mount. There have been warnings regarding the treatment of displaced populations in overcrowded and unsafe areas.
The toll on civilian life and the intensification of military actions have created a profound sense of urgency among humanitarian workers and regional stakeholders concerned with the escalating crisis in Gaza.
