Agencies

CAIRO, 

Israeli military strikes across the Gaza Strip killed at least 14 Palestinians on Tuesday, 10 of them in one house in Gaza City, medics said as tanks pushed deeper towards the western area of Rafah in the south.

Reuters quoted medics as saying that  the Israeli airstrike on the house in the Daraj suburb of Gaza City destroyed the building and damaged nearby houses. Four other people were killed in two separate airstrikes in the city and the town of Beit Lahiya, north of the enclave, medics added.

Israel then launched an air and land offensive that has killed more than 45,000 people, mostly civilians, according to authorities in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip. The campaign has displaced nearly the entire population and left much of the enclave in ruins. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

In Rafah, near the border with Egypt, Israeli tanks pushed deeper towards the western area of Mawasi, known as a humanitarian-designated area, residents said. Heavy fire from tanks rolling into the area forced dozens of families sheltering there to flee northwards towards Khan Younis. Meanwhile,  Israeli negotiators headed to Qatar amid hopes of a Gaza hostage deal with the Hamas.  Both sides have expressed optimism in recent days that a deal may be close for a phased release of the surviving hostages in Gaza in exchange for a ceasefire and the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.