At least 17 killed in Israeli air strikes on central and southern Gaza

Paramedics say 13 bodies recovered from under rubble in Nuseirat refugee camp

A Palestinian family search the rubble of their home after it was hit in a dawn strike by Israeli forces, in Nuseirat city, central Gaza. AFP

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At least 17 people were killed and dozens were injured in Israeli air strikes on central and southern Gaza early on Tuesday, despite Israel announcing a “tactical pause” in some areas of the enclave.

Ambulance teams recovered the bodies of 13 Palestinians killed in air strikes on a house and a commercial building in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, the Wafa news agency reported.

Israeli aircraft struck a house in the Bureij camp in central Gaza, leaving a number of people dead and injured.

Israel also carried out air raids on farmland in Al Mufti area, in northern Nuseirat, and the eastern part of Deir Al Balah, in central Gaza.

In northern Gaza, the military targeted the neighbourhoods of Tel Al Hawa and Al Zeitoun in the Gaza city.

In the southern city of Rafah, Israeli forces continued to advance in various areas amid heavy gunfire and artillery fire, Wafa said.

Residents reported heavy bombardment from tanks and aircraft across Rafah, where more than a million people took refuge before Israel launched its offensive in the southern city in May.

"Rafah is being bombed without any intervention from the world. The occupation [Israel] is acting freely here," a resident told Reuters.

Israeli tanks were operating in the Tel Al Sultan, Al Izba, and Zurub areas of western Rafah , as well as Shaboura in the heart of the city. Israeli forces continue to occupy eastern neighbourhoods and the outskirts of Rafah, as well as the border crossing with Egypt.

A man was killed in Israeli fire in eastern Rafah on Tuesday morning, Gaza health officials said. Medics believe many others have been killed in recent weeks.

The Israeli army said troops continue to operate in Rafah and are making progress in their mission to dismantle the Hamas Rafah Brigade.

It said that troops have gained operational control over the Philadelphi Corridor, and that attacks are being directed against Hamas and its outposts in the Shabura and Tel Al Sultan areas.

After intense operations over the past week, Israeli soldiers obtained operational control of the NPK neighbourhood of Rafah and are also in the area above and below ground, the army said.

It added that hundreds of Hamas militants have been killed and hundreds of tunnel shafts and about 25 tunnel routes have been found since the beginning of the operations in the area more than one month ago.

The Israeli military announced on Sunday it was starting a daily 11-hour “tactical pause” along a key route in southern Gaza to increase the delivery of humanitarian aid.

The pause will run from 8am to 7pm along the road from the Israeli-controlled Karam Abu Salem crossing to the Salah Al Din Road and the outskirts of Khan Younis, officials said.

Heavy fighting continued after the Israeli military said it started this tactical pause, although the military warned operations would continue elsewhere.

Gaza's Health Ministry said on Tuesday that 37,372 people have been killed there since the start of the war, with at least 85,452 injured.

A man pulls a cart loaded with salvaged wood alongside another pushing a bicycle loaded with bags along a street in the eastern part of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. AFP