Israel strikes Gaza after UN calls for more aid

Israel pressed its Gaza offensive on Saturday (Dec 23), with Hamas authorities reporting heavy shelling in several cities hours after world powers demanded more aid be allowed into the besieged Palestinian territory.

Israel pressed its Gaza offensive on Saturday (Dec 23), with Hamas authorities reporting heavy shelling in several cities hours after world powers demanded more aid be allowed into the besieged Palestinian territory.

The Hamas-controlled health ministry said 18 people were killed in a strike on a house in Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, as other targets were hit up and down the strip.

The Israeli army said late Friday it had destroyed a "strategic" tunnel complex, a "Hamas headquarters and eliminated terrorists" in operations in Gaza City, where its forces have been locked in street-to-street fighting with Hamas gunmen.

The health ministry in Gaza, which the Islamist movement Hamas has ruled since 2007, said more than 400 people had been killed in Israeli bombardments over 48 hours.

The latest violence comes after the UN Security Council approved a resolution demanding "immediate, safe and unhindered" deliveries of life-saving aid be rushed to Gaza "at scale".