Gaza's civil defence agency said Sunday that an Israeli air strike targeting a house at a refugee camp in the centre of the Palestinian territory killed at least 31 people, updating an earlier toll.

"The civil defence crew were able to recover 31 martyrs and 20 wounded from a house belonging to the Hassan family, which was targeted by the Israeli occupation forces in the Nuseirat camp," Gaza civil defence agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told journalists.

He said rescue workers were continuing to search for missing people under the rubble.

Earlier on Sunday the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital had said it had received the bodies of 20 people killed in the strike which witnesses said occurred around 3:00 am local time.

The Israeli army when contacted by AFP asked for specific coordinates of the strike.

Palestinian official news agency Wafa reported that the wounded included several children.

Fierce battles and heavy Israeli bombardments have been reported in the central Nuseirat camp since the military launched a ground operation on the southern city of Rafah in early May.

Palestinian militants and Israeli troops have also clashed in north Gaza's Jabalia camp for days now.

Witnesses said several other houses were targeted in air strikes during the night across Gaza, and that strikes and artillery shelling also hit parts of Rafah during the night.

The Israeli military said two more soldiers were killed in Gaza the previous day.

The military said 282 soldiers have been killed so far in the Gaza military campaign since the start of the ground offensive on October 27.

Body of fourth slain hostage identified by Israeli military
 Washington DC (UPI) May 18, 2024 –

Israeli troops recovered the body of Ron Benjamin after he was among 252 people captured during the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, the IDF announced Saturday.

Israeli soldiers found Benjamin's body along with the bodies of three other hostages in a tunnel near the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, Israeli Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said.

The other three hostages were identified Friday as Shani Louk, 23, Amit Buskila, 28, and Yitzhak Gelernter, 57. Benjamin was 53 years old.

"The Families Forum bows its head and mourns upon receiving the difficult news of the murder of Ron Benjamin by Hamas terrorists and the taking of his body to Gaza as a hostage," Bring Them Home Now, also called the Families Forum, posted on X.

"Returning his body to Israel is a sacred mission that allows his family to grant him eternal rest in the land of Israel," Bring Them Home Now said.

The organization said 128 hostages have been waiting 225 days to be released and returned to Israel.

It urged the Israeli government to focus on negotiating for the release of all hostages held by Hamas.

Benjamin was married to Ayelet and is the father to Shay and Gil, loved cycling, and was enjoying a bicycle ride when taken hostage from the Kibbutz Be'eri area, Bring Them Home Now said.

Several attempts to negotiate a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas have failed.

Israel in the past week began a limited push into Rafah in the southern Gaza strip, where four remaining Hamas brigades are located.

The United States officially designated Hamas a foreign terrorist organization on Oct. 8, 1997.