Cairo: Eleven people have been killed and some 50 injured in an Israeli strike outside El Emirati maternity hospital in the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, the enclave's Health Ministry said on Saturday.

"Eleven citizens were killed and about 50 others, including children, were injured when the Israeli occupation forces struck refugee tents and a gathering of citizens near the entrance to El Emirati maternity hospital in [the district of] Tal as Sultan in Rafah," the ministry wrote on Telegram.

On October 7, 2023, Palestinian movement Hamas launched a large-scale rocket attack against Israel from Gaza and breached the border, killing 1,200 people and abducting around 240 others.

Israel launched retaliatory strikes, ordered a complete blockade of Gaza, and started a ground incursion into the Palestinian enclave with the declared goal of eliminating Hamas fighters and rescuing the hostages. At least 30,320 people have been killed so far in the Gaza Strip, local authorities said.

On November 24, Qatar mediated a deal between Israel and Hamas on a temporary truce and the exchange of some of the prisoners and hostages, as well as the delivery of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. The ceasefire was extended several times and expired on December 1.

More than 100 hostages are still believed to be held by Hamas in Gaza.

(With UNI/SPUTNIK inputs)