Israeli strikes kill 14 Palestinians in Gaza: medics

Israeli military strikes across the Gaza Strip have killed at least 14 Palestinians, at least 10 of them in one house in Gaza City, medics say as tanks pushed deeper towards the western area of Rafah in the south.

Medics said the Israeli air strike on the house in the Daraj suburb of Gaza City destroyed the building and damaged nearby houses. Four other people were killed in two separate air strikes in the city and the town of Beit Lahiya north of the enclave said medics, medics added.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

In Rafah, near the border with Egypt, Israeli tanks pushed deeper towards the western area of Mawasi, known as a humanitarian-designated area, residents said.

Heavy fire from tanks rolling into the area on Tuesday forced dozens of families sheltering there to flee northwards towards Khan Younis.

The war began when the Palestinian militant group Hamas stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1200 people, mostly civilians, and taking more than 250 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli authorities.

Israel then launched an air and land offensive that has killed more than 45,000 people, mostly civilians, according to authorities in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.

The campaign has displaced nearly the entire population and left much of the enclave in ruins.

Defence Minister Israel Katz said Israel plans to maintain "security control" in the Gaza Strip even after a ceasefire.

This means that, after dismantling the military and administrative capabilities of the Palestinian militant Hamas organisation, Israel's army would retain "full freedom of action," akin to the situation in the West Bank, Katz posted on social media platform X.

In the West Bank, Israeli troops regularly conduct raids in cities technically under the security control of the Palestinian Authority.

"We will not tolerate any organisation of terror against Israeli communities and Israeli citizens from the Gaza Strip," Katz said, adding: "We will not allow a return to the reality of before October 7."

with DPA