Israeli airstrikes overnight into Saturday killed at least 23 Palestinians in Gaza, including three children and their parents, whose tent was bombed in Gaza City, according to health officials.
The bombardment continued amid growing international concern over Israel's plans to control aid distribution in Gaza, now under its third month of blockade affecting more than 2 million people.
The U.N. and humanitarian organizations have strongly opposed Israel's aid distribution strategy, which includes a proposal from a group of American security contractors, former military officers, and aid officials calling themselves the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
Among the 23 bodies brought to hospitals over the past 24 hours were those of a family of five whose tent was struck in Gaza City's Sabra district, Gaza's Health Ministry said.
Another Israeli strike late Friday hit a warehouse belonging to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in the northern area of Jabaliya. Four people were killed, according to the Indonesian Hospital, where the bodies were taken.
An Associated Press (AP) video showed fires burning in the shattered building.
The warehouse had been empty after being hit and raided multiple times during Israeli ground offensives against Hamas members over the past year, residents, including Hamza Mohamed, said.
Israel resumed its bombardment in Gaza on March 18, breaking a two-month cease-fire with Hamas.
Ground troops have seized more than half the territory and have been conducting raids and searching parts of northern Gaza and the southernmost city of Rafah.
Large parts of both areas have been flattened by months of Israeli operations.
Under Israel's blockade, charity kitchens are virtually the only source of food left in Gaza, but dozens have shut down in recent days as food supplies run out.
Aid groups say more closures are imminent. Israel has said the blockade is meant to pressure Hamas to release remaining hostages and disarm. Rights groups have called the blockade a "starvation tactic" and a potential war crime.
Israel accuses Hamas of siphoning off aid in Gaza, though it hasn’t presented evidence for its claims. The U.N. denies significant diversion, saying it monitors distribution.
The 19-month-old war in Gaza is the most devastating ever fought between Israel and Hamas.
It has killed more than 52,800 people, more than half of them women and children, and wounded more than 119,000, according to the Health Ministry.
Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas after the Oct. 7, 2023, incursion on southern Israel, which resulted in 1,200 deaths and the kidnapping of over 250 others.
Hamas still holds about 59 hostages.
Hamas released a video Saturday showing hostages Elkana Bohbot and Yosef-Haim Ohana.
They were abducted during the Oct. 7 attack from a music festival where over 300 people were killed.
Hamas released a video of them a month and a half ago and has released several videos of Bohbot alone since then.
