Hamas backs peace plan as Israel strikes kill another 55

At least 55 people were killed and dozens injured after airstrikes by the Israeli military, local health officials said, as details emerged of a US-backed ceasefire deal.

- ALISHA RAHAMAN SARKAR

Children were among at least 36 killed as Israeli forces targeted a school housing displaced people in the Daraj neighbourhood of Gaza City on Sunday, health officials said. Images circulating on social media showed badly burned bodies lying in the destroyed school.

A father and his five children were among those killed in the attack on the school, which was struck three times while people slept, said Fahmy Awad, a top official in Gaza.

The military said it targeted a militant command and control centre inside the school that it claimed Hamas and Islamic Jihad used to gather intelligence for attacks. Israel blames civilian deaths on Hamas because it operates in residential areas.

A senior rescue service official and a journalist were killed in separate strikes on Khan Younis in the south, Jabaliya in the north and Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip, Reuters reported.

Journalist Hassan Majdi Abu Warda and several of his family members were killed after Israeli forces struck his house in Jabaliya on Sunday. His death took the number of Palestinian journalists killed in Israel’s war on Gaza to 220, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run strip.