Israeli strikes kill 15 in Gaza, looting hampers aid

Israeli military strikes have killed at least 15 Palestinians in Gaza, medics say, as Israeli forces keep up bombardments across the enclave and blow up houses on its northern edge.

As fighting raged almost 14 months into the war, the head of the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) said it had had to halt aid deliveries through one crossing a day after armed gangs inside Gaza seized food from a convoy of trucks.

"This difficult decision comes at a time hunger is rapidly deepening," UNRWA's Philippe Lazzarini said in a post on X.

In the central Gaza camp of Nuseirat, an Israeli air strike on Sunday killed six people in a house, and another attack killed three in a home in Gaza City, medics said.

Two children were killed when a missile hit a tent encampment in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, while four other people were killed in an air strike in Rafah, near the border with Egypt, medics told Reuters.

Residents said the military blew up clusters of houses in the northern Gaza areas of Jabalia, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun, where Israeli forces have operated since October.

Palestinians say Israel's operations on the northern edge of the enclave are part of a plan to clear people out through forced evacuations and bombardments to create a buffer zone - an allegation the army denies.

The military says it has killed hundreds of Hamas militants there as it fights to stop the faction regrouping almost 14 months since the war in Gaza started.

Hamas's armed wing says it has killed many Israeli forces in anti-tank rocket and mortar fire attacks, and in ambushes with explosive devices since the new operation started.

The halting of aid deliveries through the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing came almost two weeks after a large shipment was hijacked on the same route.

UNRWA's Lazzarini said it was Israel's responsibility "as occupying power" to protect aid workers and supplies, and that the humanitarian operation had become "unnecessarily impossible" due to what he said were Israeli restrictions.

COGAT, the Israeli military department responsible for aid transfers, denies it is hindering humanitarian relief into Gaza, saying there is no limit on supplies for civilians.

It blamed delays on the United Nations, which it said was inefficient.

The conflict started when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israeli communities on October 7, 2023, killing about 1200 people and abducting more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli officials.

Israel's military campaign in Gaza has killed more than 44,400 people and displaced almost all of the enclave's population, Gaza officials say.

Vast swathes of Gaza lie in ruins.

In Cairo on Sunday, Hamas leaders held talks with Egyptian security officials to explore ways to reach a deal with Israel that could secure the release of hostages in return for Palestinian prisoners.

The visit was the first since the US announced on Wednesday it would revive efforts in collaboration with Qatar, Egypt and Turkey to negotiate a ceasefire in Gaza.

Hamas is seeking an agreement that would end the war while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the war will only end when Hamas is eradicated.

Two Palestinian detainees from Gaza have died in Israeli custody, prisoner advocacy groups said on Sunday.

The Israel Prison Service said the cases were not under its jurisdiction and there was no immediate comment from the military which runs detention camps.

Israel has denied accusations from Palestinian and international rights organisations that detainees have been tortured in its jails and detention camps.