GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories, Aug 17, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli strikes and gunfire killed at least 18 Palestinians on Sunday, including seven people shot dead while waiting to collect food aid.

Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that seven people were killed in an Israeli drone strike that hit a hospital courtyard in Gaza City, in the territory's north.

Witnesses said the victims were members of a Hamas unit, which a source from the Palestinian militant group described as responsible for distributing aid and "fighting thieves".

There was no comment from the Israeli military, which is preparing a broader offensive in Gaza City and has sent ground forces to the city's Zeitun neighbourhood in recent days.

After more than 22 months of war, UN-backed experts have warned of widespread famine unfolding in Gaza, where Israel has drastically curtailed the amount of humanitarian aid it allows in and convoys have been repeatedly looted.

Witnesses on Sunday reported Israeli air strikes across the Gaza Strip overnight and into the morning.

Bassal said four people were killed in a strike that hit a tent sheltering displaced Palestinians in the southern area of Khan Yunis.

The civil defence spokesman said Israel continues its intense bombardment of Gaza City's Zeitun, where troops have carried out a ground operation for the past week.

He said there were many casualties, but civil defence crews were facing "enormous difficulties reaching those trapped under the rubble" due to the ongoing violence and lack of equipment.

Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing swaths of the Palestinian territory mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency or the Israeli military.

Israel on Saturday hinted at an approaching call to push civilians from Gaza City ahead of the new offensive demanded by the security cabinet.

A defence ministry statement said that "as part of the preparations to move the population from combat zones to the southern Gaza Strip for their protection, the supply of tents and shelter equipment to Gaza will resume."

Hamas later slammed the move, saying the announcement was part of a "brutal assault to occupy Gaza City".

On the ground on Sunday, Bassal said six people were killed by Israeli gunfire near an aid distribution point in the south.

Another person was killed near an aid site in central Gaza, Bassal added, with a nearby hospital saying the body had been taken there.

The war was triggered by Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Israel's offensive has killed more than 61,897 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza which the United Nations considers reliable.