In northern Gaza, health officials reported that Israeli forces had raided Kamal Adwan Hospital, one of the few medical facilities still functioning in the area.
Israel has renewed its offensive against Hamas in the north in recent weeks, and aid groups are sounding the alarm over dire humanitarian conditions.
In Lebanon, Israeli strikes on the country's southeast killed three journalists working for news outlets that are considered to be aligned with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and its patron, Iran.
The United Nations says hundreds of thousands of people are trapped with little food or supplies. (AP PHOTO)
The Health Ministry in Gaza reported that Israeli air strikes and shelling pounded the southern city of Khan Younis, killing 38 people and wounding dozens.
The Israeli military, which has said that troops are targeting Hamas fighters in the southern town, did not respond to questions about Friday's attack on several residential buildings.
Palestinians said the neighbourhood was hit with no warning.
Footage from the Palestinian Civil Defence showed rescuers pulling the bloodied bodies of nine children from the al-Farra family out of the ruins.
The victims were taken to the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis as well as to the European Hospital, where records showed at least 15 members of the al-Farra family had been killed.
Six members of the Abdeen family were also killed, health officials reported.
Saleh al-Farra, who lost his 17-year-old brother and 15-year-old sister in the attack, said that shaking from the bombardment sent his family members running to the middle of the house for shelter. The next thing he knew, he said, he was waking up in the rubble of what had been his home.
"I started screaming and screaming until my brother and father came, and they started trying to pull me out," he said.
In response to reports that it had stormed Kamal Adwan Hospital, the Israeli military said only that it was "operating in the area" of the hospital based on intelligence that indicated the presence of militants and militant infrastructure.
The paediatric hospital is one of the area's three medical facilities to remain somewhat operational after more than a year of war.
Since Israeli military ordered the evacuation of the hospitals amid its renewed assault against Hamas militants in northern Gaza, doctors have warned that dire shortages of food, medicine and other supplies had triggered a humanitarian emergency.
Gaza: As hostilities intensify, severely wounded children are dying as they await approval for medical evacuation.— United Nations (@UN) As the number of evacuations drops dramatically, @UNICEF is calling for greater access to provide life-saving aid.https://t.co/QVo7xYITK8October 25, 2024
The Gaza-based Ministry of Health reported that Israeli troops on Friday rounded up medical staff and displaced people sheltering at the hospital and forced the men to strip, a common practice that Israel says is meant to ensure detainees do not conceal weapons.
The ministry said some Palestinians were detained, without specifying how many.
The Palestinian Civil Defence said that Israeli forces arrested two of its workers, including a local rescue coordinator and a firefighter. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the arrests.
The World Health Organization said on Friday it lost touch with staff at Kamal Adwan, where some had been the night before to deliver supplies and help transfer patients to Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.
"This development is deeply disturbing given the number of patients being served and people sheltering there," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on social media platform X about the loss of communication.
Kamal Adwan Hospital Director Hussam Abu Safiya could not be reached on Friday.
In voice messages sent late Thursday, Abu Safiya claimed that the hospital had come under Israeli tank fire. The Israeli military denied that a tank had fired at the hospital.
"Patients are still lying on the floors of the reception and emergency areas, with many in critical condition. There are no resources, supplies, or specialists to save these children's lives," Abu Safiya said in his voice message.
"We appeal to the world to intervene and preserve our hospitals."
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