Gaza City

Israeli soldiers ignored cries for "help" when they stormed a Gaza building holding three hostages just days before killing them by mistake, said a military investigation published on Thursday.

Israel again pounded Gaza with air strikes and shelling on Wednesday after its armed forces chief warned the war raging with Hamas since the October 7 attacks will last "many more months".

Explosion lit up the night sky over the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis — a focus of heavy urban combat since the Israeli army said it had largely gained operational control over Gaza's north.

Israel said its armed forces were increasingly focused on Hamas targets in south Gaza Sunday, as the United States again pressed its ally to do more to protect Palestinian civilians.

Signalling a pivot after weeks of intensive fighting around Gaza City, the Israeli army said troops were now looking to the Hamas stronghold of Khan Yunis and elsewhere in the south.

As many as 136 UN workers have lost their lives in the last 75 days in the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas while several employees of the world body have been forced out of their homes, the United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterrres said. Guterres said that no one has ever seen such number of casualties of the UN staff in the history of the world organisation.

The U.N. Security Council on Friday demanded aid be rushed to Gaza "at scale" as the head of the World Health Organization warned of a looming famine in the besieged Palestinian territory.

As Israeli bombs rained down on targets across Gaza, members of the U.N.'s top peacemaking council demanded "immediate, safe and unhindered" deliveries of life-saving aid.

The US has said "very serious" talks are underway for a new ceasefire in Gaza and the release of more Israeli hostages. However, prospects for a deal remain uncertain as the Palestinian group Hamas insists it will only discuss an end to the Israeli offensive in the Palestinian enclave. Talks in Cairo on a new cease-fire failed to produce a deal.

Israel launched more deadly strikes on Gaza Tuesday as the U.N. Security Council was due to vote on another ceasefire demand and concern mounted over the conflict's impact on global shipping.

Israel said its troops had killed three Gaza hostages after mistaking them for a threat, as the U.S. has called on Israel to scale down its military operations and focus specifically on targeting Hamas leaders.

The Israeli military said Yotam Haim, Alon Shamriz and Samer El-Talalqa were shot during operations in a neighbourhood of Gaza City.

Israel pressed its offensive in the Gaza Strip on Friday after telling key backer the United States that the war to crush Hamas will last "more than several months".

Vowing to destroy Hamas and bring home an estimated 240 hostages taken by militants into Gaza, Israel launched a massive military offensive that has left swathes of the besieged territory in ruins.

The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said yesterday at the end of an overnight visit to the Gaza Strip that civilians there were enduring "hell on earth" as Israel's war against Hamas grinds on.