Fires sparked by Israeli bombing raged in Gaza’s central Deir al-Balah area and the Al-Maghazi refugee camp,AFP reports.

“People were safe in their homes, the house was full of children,” resident Ibrahim al-Ghimri told AFP. “There were around 30 people. All of a sudden their houses fell on them… What have these children done?”

Several displaced Palestinians living in tents in Gaza’s south were killed in a strike, said bereaved residents who were mourning the dead at a hospital in Khan Younis.

Baha Abu Hatab said his nephews were killed. They had been living in “a tent to protect them from the cold weather, but Israeli air strikes hit them in their sleep”.

“Why?” he asked. “Because they threaten Israel and the United States?”