<div><b><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Health officials in Hamas-run Gaza reported on Monday more than 24,000 deaths in the war with Israel which has sent shockwaves across the region, as the fighting passed the grim 100-day milestone.</span><br></b></div><div><br></div><div>Deadly violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and along Israel's border with Lebanon as well as strikes by US forces and Iran-backed Yemeni rebels in the Red Sea have raised fears of an escalation beyond the Gaza Strip.</div><div><br></div><div>The war, sparked by Palestinian attacks on Israel, has created a humanitarian catastrophe for the 2.4 million people in the besieged strip, the United Nations and aid groups warn, and reduced much of the territory to rubble.</div><div><br></div><div>The health ministry in Gaza, ruled by Hamas since 2007, reported more than 60 "martyrs" overnight, in what the group's media office described as "intense" Israeli bombardment across Gaza.</div><div><br></div><div>The Hamas government media office said two hospitals, a girls' school and "dozens" of homes were hit.</div><div><br></div><div>Hospitals in Gaza have been hit repeatedly since the war erupted, and the World Health Organization (WHO) says most of them are no longer functioning.</div><div><br></div><div>The Israeli military accuses Hamas militants of operating out of civilian facilities or from tunnels under them, a charge the Islamist group denies.</div><div><br></div><div>AFPTV footage showed smoke billowing over Khan Yunis, southern Gaza's main city, as explosions could be heard from nearby Rafah, on the territory's southern border with Egypt.</div><div><br></div><div>The army said its forces had struck "two terrorists loading weapons into a vehicle" in Khan Yunis and raided "a Hamas command centre" there and seized weapons.</div><div><br></div><div>In central Israel, which has been largely spared the current violence, a suspected car ramming attack on Monday killed one woman and injured at least 12 other people, police said, announcing the arrest of two Palestinian men. - AFP</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd24/fas</div>