Israeli strikes destroy 'hundreds' of Gaza buildings, say rescuers
Israel's army relentlessly hammered Gaza on Saturday after fierce overnight bombardment that rescuers said destroyed hundreds of buildings three weeks into a war sparked by the deadliest attack in the country's history.
Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged Israel to halt the attacks, while the families of Israeli hostages held by Hamas said they had been snubbed by the government when asking about their fate.
Israel unleashed its bombing campaign after Hamas gunmen stormed across the Gaza border on October 7, killing 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and seizing more than 220 hostages, according to Israeli officials.
The health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza said Israeli strikes had killed 7,703 people, mainly civilians, with more than 3,500 of them children.
The conflict is the fifth and deadliest in Gaza since Israel unilaterally withdrew from the Palestinian territory in 2005.
The latest Israeli strikes against Hamas, the Islamist group that has ruled Gaza since 2007, were the most intense since the war broke out.
They coincided with ground operations.
With tens of thousands of troops massed along the Gaza border ahead of an expected full-blown invasion, Israeli forces had also made limited ground incursions on Wednesday and Thursday.
«Hundreds of buildings and houses were completely destroyed and thousands of other homes were damaged,» said Gaza Civil Defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal.
The intense bombardment had «changed the landscape» of northern Gaza, he told AFP.
Witnesses said most of the bombing was concentrated in the Jabaliya district of northern Gaza.
The strikes left wide craters in the streets and flattened many buildings in the area.
Hundreds of fighters from the Iran-backed Hamas crossed the
