At least 40 displaced people die in Israeli airstrikes

A wave of Israeli airstrikes on encampments for displaced Palestinians has killed at least 40 people across Gaza, as Hamas officials said consultations on response to an Israel truce offer "almost complete".

- Lorenzo Tondo

The civil defence spokesperson, Mahmud Bassal, said two Israeli missiles hit several tents in the al-Mawasi area of the southern city of Khan Younis, resulting in at least 16 deaths, most of them women and children, and 23 others were wounded.

Two additional strikes on other encampments of displaced people killed eight and wounded several more, Bassal said. Seven were killed in a strike on tents in the northern town of Beit Lahiya, while another attack near al-Mawasi killed a father and his child who were living in a tent.

"We were sitting peacefully in the tent, under God's protection, when we suddenly saw something red glowing - and then the tent exploded, and the surrounding tents caught fire," Israa Abu al-Rus told AFP. "This is supposed to be a safe area in al-Mawasi. We fled the tent towards the sea and saw the tents burning."