The strike hit a house in the central town of Deir al-Balah, according to the al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, which received the bodies.

The dead included two children and their parents, according to hospital records.

An Associated Press reporter counted the bodies at the hospital morgue.

Israel's bombardment has killed at least 41,595 Palestinians and wounded more than 100,000 in Gaza since the start of the war.

The Palestinian health minister says women and children make up a little more than half of the fatalities.