ISRAELI forces have continued their relentless pounding of the Gaza Strip, killing at least 55 Palestinians, including 10 people waiting for care outside a clinic, local hospitals and aid workers said today. 

The Israeli military reported the killing of one soldier in Gaza.

The latest Israeli killings came a day after sanctions were announced against a United Nations independent investigator tasked with probing human rights abuses in the Palestinian territories.

Gaza’s Nasser Hospital reported a total of 21 deaths in air strikes that hit the southern town of Khan Younis and and the nearby coastal area of Muwasi. 

The 10 people killed outside the clinic were among at least 13 who lost their lives in the town of Deir al-Balah, according to aid group Project Hope, which runs the clinic. 

“This is just a tragedy. It is a violation of the humanitarian laws. No child waiting for food and medicine should face the risk of being bombed,” said project manager Dr Mithqal Abutaha.

“People had to come seeking health and support — instead, they faced death.”

Israel’s military said it struck near the medical centre while targeting a militant.

Meanwhile, the latest effort by the United States to punish critics of Israel has seen sanctions imposed on Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur for the West Bank and Gaza.

“Albanese’s campaign of political and economic warfare against the US and Israel will no longer be tolerated,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted on social media. 

Washington’s action follows an unsuccessful campaign by the US and Israel to get her sacked by the UN human rights council.

The Italian lawyer has not flinched from calling out Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. 

Both Israel and the US have strongly denied that accusation.

Human Rights Watch international justice director Liz Evenson said the decision to sanction Ms Albanese “is actually all about silencing a UN expert for doing her job — speaking truth about Israeli violations against Palestinians and calling on governments and corporations not to be complicit.”

A request for comment from the top UN human rights body received no immediate response.

Prospects for a ceasefire deal in the near term appear to be fading as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepared to return home today after meeting President Donald Trump in Washington this week.

Mr Netanyahu appears to be holding firm to his insistence that Hamas must be destroyed, while the Palestinian group wants a complete end to the war to follow a proposed 60-day truce.