More than 80 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire across the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, most of them in Gaza City, local hospitals said.
Women and children were among at least 20 who died when a strike hit a building and tents sheltering displaced families near Firas market in Gaza City's central Daraj neighbourhood overnight, according to first responders.
The Israeli military said it struck two Hamas fighters and that the number of casualties did not align with its own information.
Meanwhile, Israeli tanks and troops continued their advance into the heart of the city, which Israel says is the last stronghold of Hamas.
The military has said the ground offensive aims to secure the release of the hostages still held by Hamas and ensure the Palestinian armed group's 'decisive defeat'.
Hundreds of thousands of residents have so far fled Gaza's biggest urban center, where a famine was confirmed last month by a UN-backed body. But hundreds of thousands more remain there in dire humanitarian conditions, with health and other essential services collapsing.
In a separate development, US special envoy Steve Witkoff said President Donald Trump had presented a '21-point plan for peace in the Mideast and Gaza' to a group of Arab and Muslim leaders on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York on Tuesday.
Witkoff gave no details about the plan, but said it addressed 'Israeli concerns as well as the concerns of all the neighbors in the region'.
'We're hopeful, and I might say even confident, that in the coming days we'll be able to announce some sort of breakthrough,' he added.
Hospitals in Gaza City said they had received the bodies of more than 60 people killed by Israeli strikes and gunfire since midnight. The Hamas-run Civil Defence agency stated that a third of the fatalities were the result of an Israeli strike on a warehouse sheltering displaced people near Firas market, and that six women and nine children were among them.
International journalists, including those from the BBC, are blocked by Israel from entering Gaza independently, making it difficult to verify reports.
But video footage from the scene showed people retrieving a body wrapped in a blanket from the wreckage of a destroyed building. Mohammed Hajjaj, whose relatives were among the dead, described the aftermath of the strike as 'a pitiful sight'.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) claimed to have struck two Hamas terrorists and that the casualty numbers did not align with their information. As operations in Gaza City intensify, it has led to increased calls for civilian protection amidst overwhelming humanitarian distress.
Women and children were among at least 20 who died when a strike hit a building and tents sheltering displaced families near Firas market in Gaza City's central Daraj neighbourhood overnight, according to first responders.
The Israeli military said it struck two Hamas fighters and that the number of casualties did not align with its own information.
Meanwhile, Israeli tanks and troops continued their advance into the heart of the city, which Israel says is the last stronghold of Hamas.
The military has said the ground offensive aims to secure the release of the hostages still held by Hamas and ensure the Palestinian armed group's 'decisive defeat'.
Hundreds of thousands of residents have so far fled Gaza's biggest urban center, where a famine was confirmed last month by a UN-backed body. But hundreds of thousands more remain there in dire humanitarian conditions, with health and other essential services collapsing.
In a separate development, US special envoy Steve Witkoff said President Donald Trump had presented a '21-point plan for peace in the Mideast and Gaza' to a group of Arab and Muslim leaders on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York on Tuesday.
Witkoff gave no details about the plan, but said it addressed 'Israeli concerns as well as the concerns of all the neighbors in the region'.
'We're hopeful, and I might say even confident, that in the coming days we'll be able to announce some sort of breakthrough,' he added.
Hospitals in Gaza City said they had received the bodies of more than 60 people killed by Israeli strikes and gunfire since midnight. The Hamas-run Civil Defence agency stated that a third of the fatalities were the result of an Israeli strike on a warehouse sheltering displaced people near Firas market, and that six women and nine children were among them.
International journalists, including those from the BBC, are blocked by Israel from entering Gaza independently, making it difficult to verify reports.
But video footage from the scene showed people retrieving a body wrapped in a blanket from the wreckage of a destroyed building. Mohammed Hajjaj, whose relatives were among the dead, described the aftermath of the strike as 'a pitiful sight'.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) claimed to have struck two Hamas terrorists and that the casualty numbers did not align with their information. As operations in Gaza City intensify, it has led to increased calls for civilian protection amidst overwhelming humanitarian distress.
