The two-day attacks have also left at least 219 people wounded and hospitalised, the ministry said in a statement on Saturday. In addition, dozens more still are trapped under the rubble or in areas that rescuers are unable to reach, Al Jazeera reported.

The surge in bloodshed comes as Israel presses a six-week aid blockade and demands that Hamas disarm before any truce can be agreed. The armed group has flatly refused the demand and insists a permanent ceasefire must be part of any deal.

At least 15 children, hit during an overnight air raid on tents in Khan Younis, were among the casualties, according to the statement. A raid on Rafah killed a mother and her daughter alongside two others, according to the European Hospital where their bodies were taken.

 “For the vast majority of civilians, nighttime is the time of horror and unrelenting pain,” said Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from central Gaza. “Nobody is safe in their homes, in the makeshift tents, in displacement camps.”

Earlier this week, Hamas rejected an Israeli proposal to pause fighting for 45 days if the Palestinian group releases 10 live captives and agrees to disarm.

“The request to disarm Hamas is not acceptable to even hear,” senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said. “This is not just a red line. It is a million red lines.”

Hamas has offered to free all remaining captives – believed to be about 58 although several are dead – in return for a permanent end to the war and the Israeli army’s full withdrawal.

The death toll in Gaza has now reached 51,065, with 116,505 wounded, according to the Health Ministry.

Abu Azzoum said, “We can see the very psychological toll in the city on the faces of everyone here, people are walking very exhausted, traumatised. They are thinking about the dark future that awaits them.”