At least 44 dead in Gaza as Israel ignores ceasefire demands

Israeli strikes and gunfire killed at least 44 people across Gaza, health officials said on Saturday, as international pressure grew for a ceasefire but Israel’s leader remained defiant about continuing the war.

Among the dead were nine from the same family in a house in the Nuseirat refugee camp, according to staff at Al-Awda Hospital, where the bodies were brought. Five others were killed when a strike hit a tent for the displaced, according to Nasser Hospital, which received the dead.

Israel’s army said they were not aware of anyone being killed by gunfire on Saturday in southern Gaza, and did not provide immediate comment about the air strikes.

The director of Shifa Hospital in Gaza City said medical teams there were concerned about Israeli “tanks approaching the vicinity of the hospital”, restricting access to the facility where 159 patients were being treated.

“The bombardment has not stopped for a single moment,” Dr Mohamed Abu Selmiya said.

He added that 14 premature babies were treated in incubators in Helou Hospital, though the head of neonatal intensive care there, Dr Nasser Bulbul, said that facility’s main gate was closed because of drones flying over the building.