At least 38 people killed by Israeli air strike on Gaza refugee camp

Israeli warplanes struck a refugee camp in the Palestinian enclave of Gaza Gaza Strip late Saturday and into early Sunday morning, killing at least 38 camp residents and injuring 100, Gaza health officials said. The strike came as Israel said it would press on with its offensive in the enclave, despite US appeals for a pause to get aid to desperate civilians.

Palestine news agency WAFA put the fatalities in the camp at at least 51. WAFA added that most of the casualties were children and women.

Maghazi refugee camp is located in the evacuation zone where Israel’s military had urged Palestinian civilians to seek refuge as it claims it is focusing its military offensive in the northern areas.

More than 9,488 Palestinians have so far been been killed in Israel's attacks, launched after the 7 October surprise incursion into Israeli territories by Palestinian Hamas group which left some 1,400 soldiers and civilians dead. More than 240 Israelis were taken captive by Hamas and taken to the Gaza strip to be held as hostages.

Foreign ministers from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Amman on Saturday and pushed for Washington to persuade Israel to agree to a ceasefire.

"This war is just going to produce more pain for Palestinians, for Israelis, and this is going to push us all again into the abyss of hatred and dehumanization," Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said at a press conference with Blinken. "So that needs to stop."

However, the top US diplomat dismissed the idea of a ceasefire, saying it would only benefit Hamas, allowing Hamas to regroup and attack again.

Washington had proposed localized pauses in fighting to allow in humanitarian aid and for people to leave the densely populated Gaza Strip. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected this when he met Blinken on Friday in Tel Aviv.

Blinken is to visit Turkey on Monday for talks on the conflict.