Israel Launches Deadly Air Strikes on Gaza Amid War

Israel launched devastating air strikes on Gaza, while also expressing readiness to resume stalled talks on a truce and hostage release deal with Hamas to pause the war raging since October 7.

The Gaza Strip's civil defense agency said two pre-dawn air strikes had killed 26 people, including 15 children, in Gaza City.

Agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal said one strike hit a family house, killing 16 people, in the Al-Daraj area, and another killed 10 people inside a mosque compound.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

Urban combat has also flared again in northern areas, including Jabalia.

Fierce street battles also raged in Gaza's Jabalia and Rafah where the armed wings of Hamas and its ally Islamic Jihad said they had fired mortar barrages at Israeli troops.

International pressure for a ceasefire has mounted on Israel and its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as three European countries said they would recognise a Palestinian state.

The week started with the International Criminal Court's prosecutor seeking arrest warrants on war crimes charges against Netanyahu and his defense minister as well as three Hamas leaders.

Israel has angrily rejected those moves, voicing "disgust" over the ICC request.

The previous round of truce talks, involving US, Egyptian and Qatari mediators, ended shortly after Israel launched its attack on Gaza's far southern city of Rafah early this month.

Israel went ahead with the assault on the last city in Gaza to be entered by its ground troops in defiance of global opposition, including from top ally the United States.

Israel has since ordered mass evacuations from Rafah, and the UN says more than 800,000 people have fled.

The bloodiest ever Gaza war broke out after Hamas's unprecedented attack on October 7 resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians.