Israeli Christmas strikes kill scores in central Gaza

Israel launched fresh airstrikes against central Gaza on Tuesday, where the United Nations said it was alarmed by an intensification of Israeli attacks that had killed more than 100 Palestinians in one part of the enclave since Christmas Eve.

The days around Christmas have seen an upsurge in the war, particularly in a central area just south of the seasonal waterway that bisects the Gaza Strip. Israeli troops told civilians to leave the area, though many say there is no safe place left to go.

Since a truce collapsed at the start of December, Israel has extended its ground campaign from the northern half of Gaza to encompass the entire enclave.

In recent days, fighting in the north has remained as intense as ever, even as southern and central areas now holding hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians have become war zones.

At Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, the largest medical facility in the southern Gaza Strip, medics said 10 Palestinians had been killed in two separate Israeli airstrikes.

20,915 people have been killed and 54,918 injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since Oct. 7, the Gaza health ministry said on Tuesday.

The ministry added that 241 Palestinians were killed in the past 24 hours and 382 were injured.