At least 33 killed in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City

Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City on Sunday killed at least 33 Palestinians, as violence between the nation’s military and Hamas militants has escalated over the past week.

The attacks, according to Reuters citing Gaza Health officials, targeted houses in the center of Gaza City. At least eight children were reportedly killed in the strikes.

Sunday’s violence brings the death toll in Gaza to at least 181, including 47 children, according to Reuters.

At least ten people have been killed in Israel, the news service noted, including two children.

According to The Associated Press, the Israeli airstrikes on Sunday were the deadliest single attack since violence in the region broke out early last week, marking the worst conflict since the 2014 war in Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said the nation’s forces are “trying to degrade Hamas’s terrorist abilities.”

When asked by host John Dickerson on CBS’s “Face the Nation” how much longer the hostilities would continue, Netanyahu said “we hope that it doesn’t continue very long,” later adding that “it’ll take some time, I hope it won’t take long but it’s not immediate.”

In a separate televised address, Netanyahu said the attacks were continuing “full-force,” adding that it will “take time,” according to The AP.

On Saturday, Israeli forces bombed a building in Gaza City that housed the AP and Al Jazeera.

The 12-story building collapsed as a result of the strike.

Netanyahu on Sunday defended Israel’s decision to target the media building, claiming that an intelligence office for Hamas that “plots and organizes the terror attacks against Israeli civilians” was housed in the structure.

The military told the owner of the building that occupants had an hour to evacuate before the structure would be bombed.