The Israeli army razed three buildings on Sunday,
killing 33 people
, and injuring 50 others in Gaza City, according to the Health Ministry.
Among the victims are
12 women, eight children and two doctors.
It is the
deadliest attack
since heavy fighting broke out between Israel and Hamas leaders in Gaza in nearly a week.
Rescue teams continue to try to remove survivors and bodies from the rubble.
Israel bombed the home of the top Hamas leader in Gaza early Sunday in another attack, according to the army.
It was the third such attack targeting the homes of Hamas leaders in the past two days.
The army said it attacked the homes of Yehiyeh Sinwar, the top Hamas leader within the territory, and his brother Muhammad, another senior member of the terrorist organization.
On Saturday he destroyed the home of Khalil al-Hayeh, another senior official.
Brigadier General Hidai Zilberman confirmed on Army radio the attack on Sinwar's home in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis.
The army spokesman said that the house of Sinwar's brother, who is in charge of Hamas "logistics and personnel," was also destroyed.
[As Hamas and Israel exchange rockets and bombardments, the UN warns of "a full-scale war"]
The Hamas leadership has gone into hiding in Gaza and it is unlikely that anyone was at home at the time of the attacks.
Hamas's top leader, Ismail Haniyeh, splits his time between Turkey and Qatar, countries that lend political support to the group.
Hamas and the Islamic Jihad militant group have acknowledged the deaths of 20 fighters since fighting broke out on Monday, while Israel claims the actual number is much higher.
In the latest attacks - the worst since the 2014 Gaza war -
more than 180 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza,
including
more than 50
, according to data from the Health Ministry.
Nine Israelis have died
, including a 5-year-old boy and a soldier.
Hamas and other militant groups have fired some
2,900 rockets at Israel
since Monday, when tensions flared.
While Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes across the impoverished and blockaded territory, which is home to more than 2 million Palestinians.
Early on Sunday, Israeli warplanes attacked several buildings and roads in the center of Gaza City.
Photos released by residents and journalists showed that the airstrikes had caused a crater blocking one of the main access roads to the Shifa hospital, the strip's largest medical center.
They ask for a ceasefire
As Israel stepped up attacks in recent days, efforts to negotiate a ceasefire are accelerating.
A US diplomat is in the region to try
to defuse tensions
and the
UN Security Council will meet on Sunday
to discuss the worst outbreak of violence between Israelis and Palestinians in years. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres reminded all parties "that
any indiscriminate attack against civilian structures and the media violates international law
and must be avoided at all costs," his spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said in a statement on Saturday.
Since the conflict began, Israel has razed several of the tallest residential and office buildings in Gaza City, claiming they house Hamas military infrastructure.
On Saturday it attacked a 12-story building, which houses the offices of The Associated Press news agency, the Al Jazeera television network and other media outlets, as well as several apartment floors.
"The campaign will continue as long as necessary," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a televised speech on Saturday, claiming that Hamas military intelligence was operating inside the building.
Following the attack on the building that housed the offices of several international media outlets, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke by phone with AP President and CEO Gary Pruitt and offered his support to independent journalists and organizations. of media.
With information from AP and NBC News.