Israel ramps up strikes on Gaza City, hospital says at least 32 are dead

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — A barrage of airstrikes killed at least 32 people across Gaza City as Israel ramps up its offensive there and urges Palestinians to evacuate, medical staff reported Saturday

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — A barrage of airstrikes killed at least 32 people across Gaza City as Israel ramps up its offensive there and urges Palestinians to evacuate, medical staff reported Saturday.

The dead included 12 children, according to the morgue in Shifa Hospital, where the bodies were brought.

Israel in recent day has intensified strikes across Gaza City, destroying multiple high-rise buildings and accusing Hamas of putting surveillance equipment in them.

On Saturday the army said it struck another high-rise used by Hamas in the area of Gaza City. It has ordered residents to leave, part of an offensive aimed at taking over Gaza territory’s largest city, which it says is Hamas’ last stronghold. Hundreds of thousands of people remain there, struggling under conditions of famine.

One of the strikes overnight and into early morning Saturday hit a house in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, killing a family of 10, including a mother and her three children, said health officials. The Palestinian Football Association said a player for the Al-Helal Sporting Club, Mohammed Ramez Sultan, was killed in the strikes with 14 members of his family. Images showed the strikes hitting followed by plumes of smoke.