Gaza air strikes leave at least 48 people dead, health officials say

Palestinians look at the destruction after an Israeli strike on residential buildings and a mosque in Rafah (Fatima Shbair/AP/PA)

Israeli strikes killed at least 48 people in southern and central Gaza overnight, half of them women and children, health officials said on Thursday.

The strikes came as European foreign ministers and UN agencies called for a ceasefire, with alarm rising over the worsening humanitarian crisis and potential starvation in the territory.