Pregnant woman and her four children killed in Gaza, say officials

An Israeli airstrike in central Gaza has killed a pregnant woman and her four children, Palestinian medical officials have said.

The strike on Wednesday hit a house in the urban Bureij refugee camp, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in the nearby town of Deir al-Balah.

An Associated Press journalist saw the bodies. Hospital records showed that the 35-year-old woman was six months pregnant. Her four children were aged between eight and 18.

Israel says it tries to avoid harming civilians and accuses Hamas of putting them in danger by operating in crowded residential areas.

The bodies of 28 people killed in Israeli airstrikes were brought to local hospitals over the past day and another 85 people were wounded, the Gaza Health Ministry said.

A total of 41,495 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the start of the Israel-Hamas war nearly a year ago, according to the ministry, which says another 96,006 have been wounded.

The ministry does not distinguish between fighters and civilians in its count. It says women and children make up slightly more than half of those killed.

The Israeli military says it has killed more than 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.