At least 400 Palestinians have been killed in the past 24 hours, 70 of them near refugee camps and hospitals.

The blockaded Gaza Strip suffered one of Israel's deadliest nights of bombing yet in its new war with Palestinian militant group Hamas.

At least 400 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in the past 24 hours, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry, with a deadly attack on Sunday night on the streets near the densely populated Jabalia refugee camp and two hospitals in Gaza City. The bombing killed 70 people.

Gaza health authorities say at least 5,087 people have been killed in two weeks of shelling of Israel, many of them women and children. The conflict erupted on October 7 after Hamas militants attacked communities in southern Israel, killing 1,400 people and taking 222 hostages in Gaza.

Early Monday, the Israeli military announced that it had attacked more than 320 "military targets" in the past 24 hours and that ground forces had carried out "limited raids" to kill insurgents and search for hostages. Hamas said the day before that it destroyed an Israeli tank and two armoured bulldozers inside the territory, which it has ruled since 2007.

Mahmoud Basal, a spokesperson for the strip`s civil defence unit, told the independent Palestinian media organisation Wattan that rescue operations were becoming more difficult because of the scale of destruction and impeded access. “Our crews are recovering victims in the form of body parts, and the chances of recovering survivors are diminishing,” he said.

The intensified airstrikes come amid reports that on Sunday the US had pressed Israel to delay its expected ground assault on Gaza to allow time for the release of more hostages believed to be held in the exclave, and the delivery of more aid to Palestinians.

Mosque in West Bank hit as Israel intensifies attacks in north Gaza – video

Mosque in West Bank hit as Israel intensifies attacks in north Gaza – video

A second aid convoy, of 14 trucks, entered Gaza through the Rafah crossing with Egypt late on Sunday – a welcome development for the 2.3 million people who are trapped and running out of food and clean water – with a third arriving on Monday.

According to the United Nations, the amount of aid that has so far reached Gaza is only 4% of the pre-battle daily average, falling far short of what is needed as medicines and fuel run out and the health system nears collapse. The final collapse is coming which will be only a fraction of the amount that will be done.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Monday called for faster aid delivery to Gaza and said the EU was discussing calls for a "humanitarian pause" in the conflict.

Friday's release of two U.S.-Israeli citizens, Judith and Natalie Rahnan, concludes negotiations among the families of those still missing, including several foreign nationals and dual citizens. Hopes are rising that more people can be rescued before ground attacks begin.

Pressure on Israeli officials increased after Abu Obeidah, a spokesman for Hamas's military wing, al-Qassam Brigades, said on Saturday that the group had committed similar acts.