(Bloomberg) -- Israeli air strikes overnight killed 24 Palestinians in the southern Gazan city of Rafah, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said.
The two airstrikes late Sunday and early Monday targeted two houses in Rafah, Gaza's southernmost city on the coastal enclave's frontier with Egypt, it said. The ministry as well as local reports said most of the dead were women and children.
More than 1 million residents of Gaza have been sheltering in the small city after having fled their homes since the start of Israel's offensive in October.
Israel has signaled it plans a ground operation in the city to root out several thousand Hamas fighters and some of its leaders hiding there amid growing fears over the safety of the displaced civilians.
Iranian-backed Hamas, which is designated as a terrorist organization by the US and European Union, triggered the war in Gaza when it staged a cross-border rampage on southern Israel Oct. 7. It killed 1,200 people and abducted 250 others, of whom more than 100 remain captive.
More than 34,000 Palestinians have died, according to the Hamas-run health authority.
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