Israeli attacks kill at least 31 people in Gaza, medics say

Israeli bombardment in Gaza kills 31, sparking accusations of ethnic cleansing and humanitarian concerns over polio vaccinations.

At least 31 people were killed during Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip on Sunday, Palestinian medics said, with nearly half of the deaths in northern areas where the Army has waged a month-long campaign it says aims to prevent Hamas regrouping.

Palestinians said the new aerial and ground offensives and forced evacuations were "ethnic cleansing" aimed at emptying two northern Gaza towns and a camp of their population in order to create buffer zones. Israel denies this, saying it is fighting Hamas militants who launch attacks from there.

Medics said at least 13 Palestinians were killed in separate attacks on houses in Beit Lahiya town and Jabalia, the largest of the enclave's eight historic refugee camps and the focus of the army's new offensive.

The rest were killed in separate Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City and in southern areas, including one in Khan Younis, which health officials said had killed eight people, including four children.

Israel has not commented on its military actions in Gaza on Sunday.

On Saturday, the Israeli military sent a new army division to Jabalia to join two other operating battalions, a statement said. It said that hundreds of Palestinian militants have been killed in the "battles" since the raid began on October 5.

Meanwhile, COGAT, the Israeli army's Palestinian civilian affairs agency, said it facilitated the launch of the second round of a polio vaccination campaign in northern Gaza on Saturday and that 58,604 children have received a dose.