Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City have flattened three buildings and killed at least 26 people, medics say, making it the deadliest single attack since heavy fighting broke out between Israel and the territory’s militant Hamas rulers nearly a week ago.
The Gaza Health Ministry said 10 women and eight children were among those killed, with another 50 people wounded in the attack.
Earlier, the Israeli military said it had destroyed the home of the top Hamas leader in Gaza, Yahiyeh Sinwar.
It was the third such attack in as many days, after nearly a week of heavy airstrikes.
For their part, the Palestinian militant group ruling Gaza has fired hundreds of rockets into Israel.
Israel appears to have stepped up strikes in recent days to inflict as much damage as possible on Hamas as international mediators try to broker a ceasefire.
US diplomat Hady Amr is in the region to try to de-escalate tensions, with the UN Security Council set to meet on Sunday.
The latest outbreak of violence began in east Jerusalem earlier this month, when Palestinians protested attempts by settlers to forcibly evict a number of Palestinian families from their homes and Israeli police measures at Al-Aqsa Mosque, a frequent flashpoint located on a mount in the Old City revered by Muslims and Jews.
Read the article by Fares Akram and Joseph Krauss in The Canberra Times.