MULTIPLE Israel air strikes hit the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis early today and the night before, killing more than 50 people in a second consecutive night of heavy bombing, while another air strike in the north left more than a dozen people dead.

The strikes came as US President Donald Trump tours the Middle East, visiting Gulf states but not Israel.

There had been widespread hope that Mr Trump’s regional visit could usher in a ceasefire deal or renewal of humanitarian aid to Gaza. An Israeli blockade of the Palestinian territory is now in its third month.

Reporters counted 10 air strikes on the city overnight into today and saw numerous bodies taken to the morgue in the city’s Nasser Hospital. It took time to identify some of the bodies due to the extent of their injuries. The hospital’s morgue confirmed 54 people had been killed.

The dead included a journalist working for Qatari television network Al Araby TV, the network announced on social media, saying that Hasan Samour had been killed along with 11 members of his family in one of the strikes in Khan Younis.

Israeli air strikes on Wednesday killed at least 70 people, including almost two dozen children.

Another strike in Jabaliya in northern Gaza hit a mosque and a small medical clinic, killing 13 people, the Civil Defence organisation said.

In Nasser Hospital, Safaa al-Najjar, her face stained with blood, wept as the shroud-wrapped bodies of two of her children were brought to her: 18-month-old Motaz al-Bayyok and six-week-old Moaz al-Bayyok.

The family was caught in Israel’s overnight air strikes. All five of Ms Najjar’s other children, aged from three to 12, were injured, while her husband was in intensive care.

One of her sons, 11-year-old Yusuf, his head heavily bandaged, screamed in grief as the shroud of his younger sibling was parted to show his face.

“I gave them dinner and put them to sleep as usual. It was a normal day. Suddenly, I don’t know what happened, the world went upside down,” she said as others tried to comfort her.

“I don’t know, I don’t know … what is their fault? What is their fault?”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed earlier in the week to push ahead with a promised escalation of Israel’s genocidal military campaign in the Gaza Strip.

In comments released by his office on Tuesday, the prime minister said Israeli forces were days away from entering Gaza “with great strength to complete the mission.”

Human Rights Watch said today that Israel’s stated plan of seizing Gaza and displacing hundreds of thousands of people “inches closer to extermination,” calling on the international community to speak out against it.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said today that Israeli strikes have put the European Hospital Khan Younis — the only remaining facility providing cancer treatments in Gaza — out of service following severe damage to its infrastructure and access roads.

The shutdown halts all specialised treatments, including cardiac surgeries and cancer care, the ministry added.

The Israeli military conducted two air strikes against the European Hospital on Tuesday, claiming it was targeting a Hamas command centre beneath the facility. Six people were killed.