Israel pummels central Gaza, dozens more Palestinians killed

Israeli forces pounded central Gaza by land, sea and air on Wednesday and Palestinian authorities reported dozens more deaths.

Israeli forces pounded central Gaza by land, sea and air on Wednesday and Palestinian authorities reported dozens more deaths in the 11-week-old conflict after Israel's military chief said the war on Hamas would grind on for months.

Reflecting Israeli resolve to wipe out Hamas despite growing international calls for a ceasefire, Israel's Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi said the fighting would last "many months" and there were no "magic solutions" or "shortcuts".

The Gaza Health Ministry said Israeli forces had killed 195 Palestinians and wounded 325 in the past 24 hours, bringing the recorded toll to 21,110 killed and 55,243 wounded in Israeli attacks in the coastal territory since October 7.

A telecommunications outage in much of the enclave hit efforts to reach Palestinian casualties overnight but was gradually coming back online at mid-morning.

In central Gaza's Al-Maghazi district, five Palestinians were killed in one air strike, medics said, while to the north in Gaza City health officials said the bodies of seven Palestinians killed overnight arrived at Al Shifa Hospital.

Residents also reported heavy fighting east and north of Al-Bureij district and in the nearby village of Juhr Ad-Deek, where they said Israeli tanks are stationed.

Israel's military on Wednesday reported three more soldiers killed in action in Gaza, bringing total military losses in the enclave since ground operations began on October 20 to 166.