Israeli bombing kills 22 in central Gaza

At least 22 people have been killed by an Israeli strike in Maghazi refugee camp in Gaza, while the city centre of Khan Yunis in Southern Gaza was also hit earlier on Sunday.

The Palestinian News Agency, Wafa, quoted local sources as saying the death toll from the raids on homes in Maghazi included children and women.

A further four Palestinians were reported killed and others injured in a bombing that targeted the center of the city of Khan Yunis.

Israeli artillery also intensively bombed the eastern neighborhoods of Gaza City, at a time when the Israeli army was trying to continue its ground incursion while Israeli aircraft also launched heavy raids on the city of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip.

Meanwhile, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres expressed his regret at the failure of the UN Security Council to adopt a ceasefire decision in the Gaza Strip.

Guterres said that the Council had been “paralysed by geostrategic divisions” that undermine reaching any solution to the war in Gaza.

He added that "the authority and credibility of the UN Security Council has been severely undermined" due to its delayed action on the war, and he considered it a blow to his reputation that was exacerbated by the United States' use of its veto on Friday against a resolution calling for a humanitarian ceasefire in the Strip. 

He continued, “I reiterated my call to declare a ceasefire for humanitarian reasons...Unfortunately, the Security Council failed to do this...I can promise you, I will not surrender."

The Ministry of Health announced on Sunday that the number of Palestinian deaths had risen to more than 17,975, and about 51,300 wounded, since the start of the Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank on October 7.