Israel's war against the Islamic militant group Hamas has led to a dramatic escalation of tensions in an already volatile Middle East

The strike late Friday hit a residential building in the western Tel Sultan neighbourhood of the city of Rafah, according to Gaza's civil defence

The bodies of the six children, two women and a man were taken to Rafah's Abu Yousef al-Najjar hospital, the hospital's records showed

At the hospital, relatives cried and hugged the bodies of the children, wrapped in white shrouds, as others comforted them

Rafah, which lies on the border with Egypt, currently hosts more than half of Gaza's total population of about 2.3 million people, the vast majority of whom have been displaced by fighting elsewhere

Despite calls for restraint from the international community, including Israel's staunchest ally, the United States, the Israeli government has insisted for months that it intends to push a ground offensive into the city, where it says many of the remaining Hamas militants are holed up

Such a ground operation has not materialized so far, but the Israeli military has repeatedly carried out airstrikes in and around the city

The war was sparked by an unprecedented raid into southern Israel by Hamas and other militant groups on October 7 that left about 1,200 people dead, the vast majority of them civilians, and saw about 250 people kidnapped and taken into Gaza. Israel says about 130 hostages remain in Gaza, although more than 30 have been confirmed to now be dead, either killed on October 7 or having died in captivity

The Gaza Health Ministry said Saturday the bodies of 37 people killed by Israeli strikes were brought to hospitals in Gaza over the past 24 hours