Israeli strikes on Gaza have killed more than 250 people since Thursday morning, local health authorities said on Friday, one of the deadliest phases of bombardment since a truce collapsed in March, with a new ground offensive expected soon.

Dozens of people have been killed in fresh Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian hospital staff said on Thursday. At least 15 Palestinians, many of them children, were reportedly killed in strikes on Jabaliya in the north of the coastal strip in the early afternoon.