Hamas’s armed wing urged the Israeli military to temporarily halt air strikes and withdraw from part of Gaza City on Sunday as it tried to locate two Israeli hostages it said it had lost contact with.

Dozens of Palestinians have been killed in ongoing Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian news agency WAFA reported on Sunday. The bodies of 41 people have been brought to various hospitals in the embattled coastal strip since Sunday morning,

Former President Barack Obama on Friday criticized Israel’s ongoing military action in Gaza, saying that “there’s not a military rationale for continuing to pummel what is already rubble” and arguing for Palestinian statehood.

The health care system in Gaza City is coming under fire and being pushed toward collapse as Israeli troops bear down.

Abeer Hassan, looking after her autistic son, Abdallah, faces peril amid Israeli bombardment and displacement.

An international aid flotilla that paused for several days in Greek waters for repairs has set sail again for Gaza, where activists aim to challenge Israel's naval blockade and deliver aid to the Palestinian territory.

Israeli tanks advanced deeper into several densely populated neighbourhoods of Gaza City on Sunday, with health authorities unable to respond to dozens of desperate calls for help. Witnesses and medics told Reuters that the tanks entered key residential areas including Sabra, Tal al-Hawa, Sheikh Radwan and al-Nasser.