Israeli attacks kill 18 in Gaza

GAZA, Aug 17 (AFP/AP): Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli strikes and gunfire killed at least 18 Palestinians on Sunday, including seven people shot dead while waiting to collect food aid.

Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that seven people were killed in an Israeli drone strike that hit a hospital courtyard in Gaza City, in the territory's north.

Witnesses said the victims were members of a Hamas unit, which a source from the Palestinian militant group described as responsible for distributing aid and "fighting thieves".

There was no comment from the Israeli military, which is preparing a broader offensive in Gaza City and has sent ground forces to the city's Zeitun neighbourhood in recent days.

After more than 22 months of war, UN-backed experts have warned of widespread famine unfolding in Gaza, where Israel has drastically curtailed the amount of humanitarian aid it allows in and convoys have been repeatedly looted.

Witnesses on Sunday reported Israeli air strikes across the Gaza Strip overnight and into the morning.

Protests held across

Israel to end war

Demonstrators took to the streets across Israel Sunday calling for an end to the war in Gaza and a deal to release hostages still held by militants, as the military prepares a new offensive.

The protests come more than a week after Israel's security cabinet approved plans to capture Gaza City, following 22 months of war that have created dire humanitarian conditions in the Palestinian territory.

The war was triggered by Palestinian militant group Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel, during which 251 were taken hostage.

Forty-nine captives remain in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.

Israel prepares to move

Palestinians to S Gaza

Israel announced Saturday that it is preparing to move Palestinians from combat zones to southern Gaza as plans move ahead for a military offensive in some of the territory's most populated areas.

The Israeli military body in charge of humanitarian aid to Gaza, COGAT, said the supply of tents to the territory would resume on Sunday.