38 Gazans killed in airstrikes as Israel ignores ceasefire demand

Israeli strikes and gunfire killed at least 38 people across Gaza, health officials said, as international pressure grows for a ceasefire but Israel's leader remains defiant about continuing the war.

Strikes in central and northern Gaza killed people in their homes in the early hours of Saturday morning, including nine from the same family in a house in the Nuseirat refugee camp, according to health staff at the Al-Awda hospital.

The attacks came hours after a defiant Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told fellow world leaders at the UN General Assembly Friday that his nation "must finish the job" against Hamas in Gaza. International pressure on Israel to end the war is increasing, as is Israel's isolation, with a growing list of countries deciding recently to recognise Palestinian statehood — something Israel rejects.

Countries have been lobbying US President Donald Trump to press Israel for a ceasefire. On Friday, Trump told reporters on the White House lawn that he believed the US was close to achieving a deal on easing fighting in Gaza that "would get the hostages back" and "end the war".