Israeli forces have pounded the suburbs of Gaza City overnight from the air and ground, destroying homes and driving more families out of the area.
The latest attacks come as Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's security cabinet is set to discuss a plan to seize the city.
Local health authorities said Israeli gunfire and strikes killed at least 30 people, including 13 who tried to get food from near an aid site in central Gaza, and at least two in a house in Gaza City.
The Israeli military spokesperson's office said they were reviewing the reports.
Gaza health authorities also said at least 15 people, including five children, were killed in an attack on a residential building in the heart of Gaza City yesterday.
Residents of Sheikh Radwan, one of the largest neighbourhoods of Gaza City, said the territory had been under Israeli tank shelling and airstrikes throughout yesterday and today, forcing families to seek shelter in the western parts of the city.
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The Israeli military has gradually escalated its operations around Gaza City over the past three weeks, and on Friday it ended temporary pauses in the area that had allowed for aid deliveries, designating it a "dangerous combat zone".
"They are crawling into the heart of the city where hundreds of thousands are sheltering, from the east, north, and south, while bombing those areas from the air and ground to scare people to leave," said one resident from Sheikh Radwan.
Read more: Aid flotilla with Greta Thunberg on way to Gaza
An Israeli official said Mr Netanyahu's security cabinet will convene this evening to discuss the next stages of the planned offensive to seize Gaza City, which he has described as Hamas' last bastion.
A full-scale offensive is not expected to start for weeks. Israel says it wants to evacuate the civilian population before moving more ground forces in.
Hamas spokesperson targeted - Netanyahu
Mr Netanyahu confirmed that Israeli forces had targeted Abu Ubaida, the spokesperson of Hamas' armed wing.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said that Abu Ubaida was killed. Two Hamas officials contacted by Reuters did not respond to requests for comment.
Gaza health authorities said 15 people, including five children, were killed in the attack on a residential building in the heart of Gaza City.
Abu Ubaida, also known as Hozayfa Al-Khalout, is a well-known figure to Palestinians and Israelis alike, close to Hamas' top military leaders and in charge of delivering the group's messages, often via video, for around two decades, delivering statements while wearing a red keffiyeh that concealed his face.
The US targeted him with sanctions in April 2024, accusing him of leading the "cyber influence department" of al-Qassam Brigades.
In his last statement on Friday, he warned that the planned Israeli offensive on Gaza City would endanger the hostages.
Hamas confirms death of Gaza chief Mohammed Sinwar
Meanwhile, Hamas has confirmed the death of Mohammed Sinwar, its presumed leader in Gaza, more than three months after Israel said it had killed him in an airstrike.
Pictures released by the Palestinian Islamist group yesterday showed him alongside other political and military leaders described as "martyrs of the military council".
Mohammed Sinwar was the younger brother of Yahya Sinwar, accused by Israel of masterminding the 7 October 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the ongoing war in Gaza.
He reportedly led the Al-Qassam Brigades' military council after the death of commander Mohammed Deif.
Israel said it had identified Mohammed Sinwar's body in June in a tunnel beneath the European Hospital in Khan Yunis, central Gaza. The military said it had "eliminated" him on May 13.
The war began with a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which around 1,200 people were killed, mostly civilians, and 251 taken hostage. Twenty of the remaining 48 hostages are believed to still be alive.
Israel's military campaign in Gaza has killed more than 63,000 people, mostly civilians, according to Gaza health officials, and it has plunged the enclave into a humanitarian crisis and left much of it in ruins.
Israel mulls West Bank annexation in response to moves to recognise Palestine
Israel is considering annexation in the occupied West Bank as a possible response to France and other countries recognising a Palestinian state, according to three Israeli officials and the idea will be discussed further this evening, another official said.
Extension of Israeli sovereignty to the West Bank - de facto annexation of land captured in the 1967 Middle East war - was on the agenda for Mr Netanyahu's security cabinet meeting, a member of the small circle of ministers said.
It is unclear where precisely any such measure would be applied and when, whether only in Israeli settlements or some of them, or in specific areas of the West Bank like the Jordan Valley and whether any concrete steps, which would likely entail a lengthy legislative process, would follow discussions.
Any step toward annexation in the West Bank would likely draw widespread condemnation from the Palestinians, who seek the territory for a future state, as well as Arab and Western countries.
It is unclear where US President Donald Trump stands on the matter. The White House and State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A spokesperson for Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar did not respond to a request for comment on whether Mr Saar had discussed the move with his US counterpart Marco Rubio during his visit to Washington last week.
Mr Netanyahu's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether the prime minister supports annexation and if so, where.
