Health ministry says Israeli bombing on Gaza camp kills 45

GAZA STRIP, Occupied Palestine — At least 45 people have been killed in Israeli strikes on a central Gaza refugee camp, health ministry said on Sunday in an updated toll, as fighting rages in the Palestinian territory.

The Hamas-run ministry in the besieged Gaza Strip said in a statement that "the number of martyrs in the Maghazi massacre has risen to 45".

Ministry spokesman Ashraf Al Qudra had initially reported 30 deaths.

Hamas said in a statement posted on Telegram that Israel had "directly" bombed civilian homes, adding that most of the dead were women and children.

“An Israeli air strike targeted my neighbours’ house in Al Maghazi camp, my house next door partially collapsed,” said Mohammed Alaloul, 37, a journalist working for the Turkish Anadolu Agency.

Alaloul told AFP his 13-year-old son, Ahmed, and his 4-year-old son, Qais, were killed in the attack, along with his brother. His wife, mother and two other children were injured.

The health ministry in Gaza, the narrow territory under Hamas control since 2007, said more than 9,480 Gazans, mostly women and children, have been killed in Israeli strikes and the intensifying ground campaign.