Israeli blitz kills another 23 Gazans

Gaza's civil defence agency said an Israeli strike on a residential building in Gaza City killed at least 23 people Wednesday, most of them children or women, as the military said it targeted a "senior Hamas" militant.

The latest strike comes weeks into a renewed offensive by Israel's military on the war-battered territory, which has displaced hundreds of thousands, while an aid blockade has revived the spectre of famine for its 2.4 million people.

The strike took place in the Shujaiya neighbourhood of Gaza City, the agency's spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP. "The death toll from the Shujaiya massacre has risen to 23 martyrs, including eight children and eight women," he said, adding that more than 60 people were wounded.

"There are still people trapped under the rubble."

Ayub Salim, a 26-year-old Shujaiya resident, told AFP he witnessed the strike on the four-storey block.

He said the area was hit with "multiple missiles" and was "overcrowded with tents, displaced people and homes".

"Shrapnel flew in all directions," he said, speaking of "a terrifying and indescribable scene".

"Dust and massive destruction filled the entire place, we couldn't see anything, just the screams and panic of the people". Salim said the dead were "torn to pieces".

"Even now, emergency crews are still transporting the dead and the injured. It is truly a horrific massacre," he said.

A crew from the Gaza civil defence agency rushed to the scene, only to find several people trapped under the rubble, a rescuer said.

"This house was home to many people who believed they were safe. It was blown up over their heads," Ibrahim Abu al-Rish told AFP while men worked hard to clear out rubble behind him.

He added that the strike hit while many children were playing inside.

"The house was directly bombed, and the entire residential area was destroyed," he said.

"We pulled out the remains of women and children. There are still people buried under the rubble."

First responders and neighbours worked to break through the concrete floor of an entire storey that collapsed in the strike and trapped residents.

Taking turns swinging a sledgehammer through the thick, hard surface, they eventually broke a hole through which the bodies of children were extracted and taken away wrapped in dusty blankets.

When asked by AFP about the strike, the Israeli military said it "struck a senior Hamas terrorist who was responsible for planning and executing terrorist attacks" from the area.