Israeli strikes kill 13 Palestinians in overnight strikes, Gaza civil defence says

Israeli strikes on an apartment and a residential building have killed 13 Palestinians overnight, Gaza's civil defence agency has said on Tuesday.

Israeli warplanes hit a residential building in southwestern Gaza City, killing 10 people, spokesman Mahmud Bassal said in a statement to AFP. Bassal said Israeli helicopters also struck an apartment in the west of the city, killing three and wounding several others.

Israeli forces have been preparing for an offensive to seize Gaza City, the largest urban centre in the Palestinian territory, intensifying bombardments in the area in recent days. 

Israeli-imposed blockade on Gaza has caused at least 339 deaths due to starvation. This includes 124 children. Famine has been officially declared in Gaza by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), the UN-backed global hunger monitor. 

More than 63,557 Palestinians have been killed, and 160,660 others wounded in Israel's genocide in Gaza since October 2023. The respected medical journal, The Lancet, estimates the figure to be significantly higher.