700 Palestinians killed in 24hrs

More than 700 Palestinians were killed in overnight Israeli air strikes, Gaza's health ministry said yesterday, the highest 24-hour death toll since Israel began a bombing campaign to crush Hamas members who stunned the country with a deadly October 7 attack.

Israel said it had killed dozens of Hamas fighters in the overnight strikes on the besieged enclave but said its war to destroy the Islamist group would take time.

As aid agencies warned that a humanitarian catastrophe was unfolding in Gaza, French President Emmanuel Macron flew to Israel to offer it support. He told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that France stood "shoulder to shoulder" with Israel in its war with Hamas while also saying it must not fight "without rules".

The United Nations urged Israel to allow more aid into Gaza, saying the aid let in so far met a tiny fraction of the needs of the beleaguered population. Fuel, still blocked, was crucial.

"We are on our knees asking for that sustained, scaled up, protected humanitarian operation," said Dr Rick Brennan, WHO Regional Emergencies Director.

UN agencies say they have no assurances their aid workers will be safe to reach those in need. But there appeared to be little prospect of a ceasefire any time soon in the bloodiest episode in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in decades.

Gaza's health ministry said at least 5,791 Palestinians have been killed in the strikes on the Hamas-ruled enclave since October 7, including 2,360 children. A total of 704 were killed in the previous 24 hours alone, it said.

Ministry spokesman Ashraf Al-Qidra said it was the biggest number of deaths in a 24-hour period in the two weeks of Israeli strikes.

After his daughter was killed in an air strike in southern Gaza, Abdallah Tabash refused to let her go, holding her body in his arms. Blood stained her face and hair as people begged him to hand her over so they could bury her.

"This is my girl, I want to see her as much as I can," the shocked father said in the city of Khan Younis.

The bombardments were unleashed in response to a Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7 in which the members of the group killed more than 1,400 people - mostly civilians - in a single day.

Hamas on Monday freed two Israeli women who were among the more than 200 hostages taken during the assault. They were the third and fourth hostages to be released.

Israeli tanks and troops are massed on the border between Israel and the enclave awaiting orders for an expected ground invasion - an operation that will be complicated by concerns over the hostages.

The Israeli military said it had hit more than 400 targets in Gaza overnight and killed dozens of Hamas fighters, including three deputy commanders.

Among the targets was a tunnel that allowed Hamas to infiltrate Israel from the sea and Hamas command centres in mosques, it said.

Israeli military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said the military was "ready and determined" for the next stage in the war and was awaiting political instructions.

But how soon Israel might launch a full-scale invasion is not clear.