GAZA, DECEMBER 19

Israeli troops launched more deadly strikes in Gaza on Tuesday and raided the last working hospital in Gaza City, while the UN Security Council delayed voting on an Arab-sponsored resolution for an urgent cessation of hostilities.

A strike on a home in Rafah where displaced people were sheltering killed at least 25 people, including women and children, and another killed at least three people, according to Associated Press journalists who saw the bodies arrive at two local hospitals early Tuesday.

Nearly 20,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel declared war on Hamas, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza, which does not differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths.

Thousands more lie buried under the rubble of Gaza, the UN estimates. Israel says 127 of its soldiers have died in its ground offensive after Hamas raided southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people - mostly civilians - and taking about 240 hostages.