Israel Keeps Up Gaza Assault Amid Fears Of A Regional War

Israeli shelling killed 14 Palestinians on Thursday in Khan Younis in a southern coastal area of the Gaza Strip packed with people who had fled attacks in other parts of the enclave, Gaza health ministry officials said.

The dead included nine children, an official told Reuters.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the attack although it had separately reported fighting and air strikes against Hamas militants in the Khan Younis area on Thursday.

Gaza residents also said Israeli planes and tanks bombarded three refugee camps in the centre of the shattered enclave, prompting many civilians to head south.

Five Palestinians were killed in an Israeli air strike on a car in Al-Nusseirat refugee camp, officials told Reuters.

Israel's war against Hamas is nearing the three-month mark amid international concern that the conflict is spreading beyond Gaza, drawing in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Hezbollah forces on the Lebanon-Israel border, and Red Sea shipping lanes.

Fears were heightened after a drone strike on Tuesday killed Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Arouri in the Lebanese capital Beirut. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah vowed on Wednesday that his powerful Iran-backed Shi'ite militia "cannot be silent" following the killing.