Israel has struck tents outside two major hospitals in the Gaza Strip overnight, killing at least two people, including a local reporter, and injuring another nine, medics said.
Six reporters were said to be among the injured.
Thirty-two other people were killed in multiple strikes around Gaza, including 19 women and children and an emergency room doctor, according to hospital officials.
An Israeli strike hit Deir al-Balah in the Gaza Strip (AP)
Monday’s update brings the total Palestinian death toll from the 18-month Israel-Hamas war to more than 50,700, with more 115,400 wounded.
The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its records, but says more than half the dead are women and children.
Israel says it has killed around 20,000 militants, without providing evidence.
A strike on a media tent outside Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis at around 2am local time (1am BST) set the tent ablaze, killing Yousef al-Faqawi, a reporter for the Palestine Today TV station, and another man, according to the hospital. The six reporters were injured in that strike.
The Israeli military said it struck a Hamas militant. The military says it tries to avoid harming civilians and blames Hamas for their deaths because it is deeply embedded in residential areas.
Israel also struck tents on the edge of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central city of Deir al-Balah, injuring three people, according to the hospital.
Israel has carried out a number of strikes since the ceasefire ended last month (AP)
Nasser Hospital said it received another 15 bodies, including six women and four children, from separate strikes overnight. Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital said two additional strikes on homes in Deir al-Balah killed eight people, including three women and three children.
Israel has carried out waves of strikes across Gaza and ground forces have carved out new military zones since it ended its ceasefire with Hamas last month. Israel has barred the import of food, fuel, medicine and humanitarian aid since the beginning of March.
Thousands of people have sheltered in tents set up inside hospital compounds throughout the 18-month war, assuming Israel would be less likely to target them.
Palestinians searched for survivors amid the wreckage (AP)
Israel has raided hospitals on several occasions, accusing Hamas of using them for military purposes, allegations denied by hospital staff.
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on October 7 2023, rampaging through army bases and farming communities and killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians.
They abducted 251 people, and are still holding 59 captives – 24 of whom are believed to be alive – after most of the rest were released in ceasefires or other deals.
Israel has vowed to keep escalating military pressure until Hamas releases the remaining hostages, lays down its arms and leaves the territory.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he will then implement US President Donald Trump’s proposal to resettle much of Gaza’s population to other countries through what the Israeli leader refers to as “voluntary emigration”.
Palestinians say they do not want to leave their homeland, and human rights experts have warned that implementing the Trump proposal would likely amount to mass expulsion in violation of international law.
The US and Israeli leaders will hold talks on Monday (AP)
Mr Netanyahu will meet with Mr Trump in Washington on Monday to discuss Gaza and other issues.
Israel’s military offensive has killed over 50,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were militants or civilians.
Israel says it has killed around 20,000 militants, without providing evidence.
The offensive has destroyed vast areas of Gaza and at its height displaced around 90% of its population.
Later, the Israeli military said a Palestinian-American teenager who was shot and killed had been throwing rocks.
The military said on Monday that soldiers killed the teenager who endangered motorists on a road in the occupied West Bank.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said on Sunday that a Palestinian-American teenager was killed in the incident and two others were injured, one is in a critical condition.
The violence occurred near Turmus Aya, a town with a sizable population of Palestinian-Americans.
Residents help firefighters at an apartment that was hit by an apparent Israeli airstrike in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, on Friday (Mohammed Zaatari/AP)
Elsewhere, the head of the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon said the balance of force in the country has now “significantly changed” which may finally enable slow progress toward a more permanent ceasefire, “but this may still take a long time”.
Lt Gen Aroldo Lazaro Saenz told the UN Security Council on Monday that an internal political process could be required to deal with key issues including dealing with Hezbollah fighters and other armed groups.
Mr Saenz said other issues that need to be tackled are military capabilities “and a political track between Lebanon and Israel to deal with questions of sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as border demarcation”.
He said Lebanon’s consent to the deployment of the 10,000-strong UN peacekeeping force known as Unifil, which faces increasing threats from disinformation and misinformation, is also key.
To counter disinformation and misinformation, Mr Saenz said Unifil must establish “a strong fact-based narrative” to avoid misperceptions, for example, that UN peacekeepers work at the behest of Israel, have a hidden agenda, and are an occupation force.
Later on Monday hundreds of Israelis protested against Mr Netanyahu and his government.
The protests in Tel Aviv come as Mr Netanyahu’s government has recently moved to oust top security and legal officials, and resumed the war in Gaza.
“We’re here today to send a very clear message,” said one protester Menashe Yehezkel-Baum. “Stop destroying our very basic and essential institute like the Supreme Court, the army, the security services, the police.”
Monday’s demonstrations coincided with Mr Netanyahu’s visit to Washington. Some of the hostages recently freed by Hamas militants in Gaza, as well as their families and supporters, have urged US President Donald Trump to help end the war.
“We are on the verge from turning from democracy to dictatorship, and I’m here to defend the democracy,” said another protester Nitzan Shekel.
