Images from Gaza showed the horrifying extent of civilian casualties as Palestinians clutched loved ones at the central Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah.

The Red Cross has said that 'Gaza is at breaking point' - and the renewed violence is making it challenging to get food and water to civilians bearing the brunt of the conflict.

'We continue to urge all parties to allow (aid) access for all civilians … hospitals, medical teams and humanitarian workers so that they can continue with their life-saving work,' Hisham Mhanna of the International Committee of the Red Cross told Al Jazeera from Gaza today. 

Israel meanwhile claims to have hit more than 400 targets overnight, including many in the southern Khan Yunis area, a city of 200,000 where tens of thousands have flocked in recent weeks to escape the aerial bombardment of the north.