Israeli strike kills family of 10 in Gaza, health officials say - as UN raises alarm over food cut-off

A family of 10 was among at least 23 people in Gaza killed by overnight Israeli airstrikes, local health officials have said.

Five children, four women, and a man from the same family, identified by the Associated Press as the Abu Al-Rous family, died when an Israeli airstrike hit the tent where they were staying in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. Pictures were published of their funeral on Thursday, showing their bodies, covered in sheets and wrapped in bags, lying on the ground surrounded by mourners.

They had all suffered severe burns, the Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies, said. Nine children were among 13 people killed by other Israeli strikes in northern Gaza, according to Gaza's Indonesian Hospital.

Israel's military says it tries to avoid harming civilians and blames their deaths on Hamas because it operates in residential areas. There was no immediate comment on the latest strikes.

'Most people in Gaza down to one meal a day' The latest reported casualties of the conflict come as the humanitarian crisis there worsens. The UN warned that almost all of Gaza's population of over two million is relying on the one million prepared meals produced daily by charity kitchens.

The only other way to get food in Gaza is from markets, but rising prices make them unaffordable for most and the World Food Programme called it Gaza's "worst humanitarian crisis" since the escalation of hostilities in October 2023. Hani Almadhoun, co-founder of Gaza Soup Kitchen, said they have food for about three more weeks, but only pasta, rice, and canned meat...

and "no fresh produce". Most people in Gaza are now down to one meal a day, according to Shaina Low, a spokesperson for the Norwegian Refugee Council, which she called "far lower than what is needed".

Palestinians are also surviving on six or seven litres of water a day, local official Omar Shatat said, often collected after queuing in long lines to fill jerry cans from trucks. It's a good deal less than what the UN estimates is needed for basic needs.

Israeli defence minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday that preventing humanitarian aid is one of the "central pressure tactics" used against Hamas, which Israel accuses of siphoning off aid to maintain its rule. Israel is demanding that Hamas release more hostages at the start of any new ceasefire and ultimately agrees to disarm and leave the territory.

Hamas is currently holding 59 hostages, 24 of whom are believed to be alive. It says it will only return them in exchange for the release of more Palestinian prisoners, a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a lasting truce, as called for in the now-defunct ceasefire agreement reached earlier this year.

The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on 7 October 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251 people. Most of the hostages have since been released.

Read more:Israeli troops will 'remain in Gaza'Trapped Gazans 'dying under rubble'A timeline of events since the 7 October attacks Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed more than 51,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were civilians or militants. Israel says it has killed around 20,000 militants, without providing evidence.

The war has destroyed vast parts of Gaza and most of its food production capabilities and displaced around 90% of the population, with hundreds of thousands of people living in tent camps and bombed-out buildings..