An Israeli air strike has killed at least 33 people, including 21 women, in a refugee camp in northern Gaza, according to authorities in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.
There was no immediate comment on the reported attack on Jabalia by Israel, whose forces have surrounded the densely populated camp for weeks.
The assassination of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar this week raised hopes in some quarters for an end to the war, but the group’s vice president said Hamas would only get stronger.
US President Joe Biden said there was a chance to “work towards a ceasefire” in Lebanon, where Israel is fighting Hezbollah militants, but that it would be “harder in Gaza”.
He was speaking as he left the German capital Berlin, where he met with the leaders of Germany, France and Great Britain. According to a statement from the media office of the Hamas-led Gaza government, Friday’s airstrike also injured more than 85 people, some of them seriously, while houses belonging to three families in the field were hit.
The final death toll could reach 50 dead, he added, as people were buried under the rubble of the buildings.
This report could not be independently verified. Local sources indicate that the north of Gaza is effectively cut off, with telecommunications and internet services in the area.
A video circulating on social media – which the BBC has not verified – appears to show bodies wrapped in white shrouds lying in the courtyard of al-Awda hospital. The director of the hospital spoke to reporters about a large influx of victims.
