'This is massacre': Toddlers among children killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza

Several children — including toddlers — were among dozens of Palestinians killed as a fresh wave of Israeli air strikes slammed into residential buildings in besieged Gaza on the 13th day of the conflict.

State news agency Wafa quoted witnesses and medical sources to report that nine people, including seven children, were killed when fighter jets struck a house at Khan Younis in south of Gaza City.

Rescue workers were trying to reach several people reportedly trapped under the rubble.

The news spread quickly on social media, as grisly images of dead and bloodied toddlers lined up side by side on a hospital stretcher stirred outrage in Gaza and occupied West Bank.

Bandaged and caked in dust, the bodies were brought to the Gaza European Hospital in Khan Younis along with three other dead members of the Bakri family. Photographers swarmed the operation room as women covered their eyes and doctors wept.

“This is a massacre,” hospital director Dr. Yousef Al Akkad said, his voice choking with emotion. “Let the world see, these are just children.”

Local medics also confirmed that the children were killed in a strike and said the Bakri family was just one of many such cases.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

More than 30 other Palestinians were also killed and dozens injured in Israeli airstrikes in Rafah in the southern Gaza, witnesses said.

A Palestinian baby lost his life and several people were injured in an airstrike in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, according to witnesses.

A child was also killed in an Israeli air raid west of Khan Younis, Palestinian medical sources said.

Israeli warplanes also struck a house in the Tal al Sultan neighbourhood in Rafah amid reports of fatalities.

The fatalities were reported a day after an Israeli air strike devasted the Al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza, killing at least 500 people and wounded hundreds of others.

The conflict in Gaza, under Israeli bombardment and blockade since October 7, began when Hamas initiated Operation Al Aqsa Flood, a multi-pronged surprise attack that included a barrage of rocket launches and infiltration into Israel by land, sea, and air.

It said the incursion was in retaliation for the storming of the Al Aqsa Mosque and growing violence by Israeli settlers.

The Israeli military then launched Operation Swords of Iron against Hamas targets in Gaza.

Gaza is experiencing a dire humanitarian crisis with no electricity, while water, food, fuel, and medical supplies are running out.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” to ease the “epic human suffering”.

Nearly 35,00 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza, while the figure stands at more than 1,400 people in Israel.​​​​​​​