Heavy fighting rocked the Gaza Strip on Monday, leaving dozens of Palestinians and five Israeli soldiers dead, even as the White House said that a Gaza truce and hostage release deal could be finalised this week.
Israeli forces pounded Gaza City with a wave of air strikes, killing more than 50 people on Monday, the civil defence agency reported.
"They bombed schools, homes and even gatherings of people," Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for the agency told AFP.
Eleven people were killed and several others injured when an Israeli strike targeted a house belonging to the Jaradah and Abu Khater families in the city's Shujaiya neighbourhood, the agency said in a statement.
Seven people were killed in a strike on a group of Palestinians on Al-Maamal Street in Gaza City, the agency reported.
The remaining casualties occurred in other strikes across Gaza City throughout the day, it added.
The Israeli military said it was looking into these reports.
"There is no room in hospitals to receive the wounded," Bassal said.
The Israeli military also suffered losses on Monday, with five of its soldiers killed in fighting in northern Gaza, the military said in a statement.
Smoke plumes rising from explosions above destroyed buildings in the northern Gaza Strip, on Monday. AFP
Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a school sheltering displaced people, in Gaza City, on Monday. REUTERS
Palestinians transport casualties of Israeli strikes into at Al-Ahli Arab hospital, also known as the Baptist hospital, in Gaza City, on Monday. AFP
Palestinians transport casualties of Israeli strikes into at Al-Ahli Arab hospital, also known as the Baptist hospital, in Gaza City, on Monday. AFP
A Palestinian man reacts while transporting a girl injured in Israeli strikes, into at Al-Ahli Arab hospital, also known as the Baptist hospital, in Gaza City, on Monday. AFP
