Four children among at least 10 killed in Israeli strike on home in Gaza, say rescuers

The misile hit a residential housing unit in the Al Tuffah neighbourhood east of Gaza City

Israeli attacks have continued on positions in the Gaza Strip in recent days (File AP)

At least 10 Palestinians have been killed, including four children, in an Israeli airstrike on a home in Gaza, local media has reported.

The strike hit a residential housing unit in the Al Tuffah neighbourhood east of Gaza City, according to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa.

It reported that at least four children and three women were among those killed in the bombing, while several more people remain missing under the rubble of the destroyed home.

Gaza’s civil defence agency appeared to confirm the media reports. Spokesperson Mahmud Bassal said. “We have recovered the bodies, including four children and three women, after an Israeli warplane hit a three-storey house.”

He said several families had taken refuge in the house before it was hit.

Two others were killed by Israeli shelling on Gaza City and Jabalia in the north, and three in al-Mawasi in the south, the report said.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Another strike overnight on Saturday hit a tent in Khan Younis with Palestinians displaced by the Israel-Hamas war, Gaza‘s Civil Defence said.

An estimated 14 people have died after the overnight strikes, according to civil defence officials.

A Palestinian man searches for his belongings following an airstrike on tents in al-Mawasi area, Khan Yunis (Anadolu via Getty Images)

They followed airstrikes earlier this week that hit a tent camp on Tuesday and a United Nations school sheltering displaced people on Wednesday.

Last month, talks for a ceasefire in Qatar broke down without a breakthrough. After Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu accepted a “bridging proposal” for a deal, US secretary of state Antony Blinken called on Hamas to “do the same”.

Mr Blinken said he then hoped Israel and Hamas, with help from other countries, could agree to a deal.

Buildings heavily damaged in Israeli bombing, in Beit Lahia in the north of Gaza (AFP/Getty)

The war began when Hamas-led fighters killed some 1,200 people during an attack on southern Israel on 7 October, 2023.

They abducted another 250 people and are still holding around 100 hostages after releasing most of the rest in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel during a weeklong ceasefire in November.

Around a third of the remaining hostages are believed to be dead. The war has caused vast destruction and displaced around 90 percent of Gaza‘s 2.3 million population, and plunged the territory into a severe humanitarian crisis. 

Gaza‘s Health Ministry says over 41,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war began. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and militants in its count, but says women and children make up just over half of the dead.