Israel strikes kill 30 Palestinians in Gaza

• Mediators present updated truce proposal to Israel, Hamas
• Trump called Netanyahu to address strike on Catholic church
• Cardinal brings humanitarian aid to Gaza 

Gaza's civil defence agency said yesterday that Israeli strikes killed 30 people in the north and south of the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.

The emergency service said fighter jets conducted air strikes and there was artillery shelling and gunfire in the early morning in areas north of the southern city of Khan Yunis.

Three people died in an Israeli attack on the Tuffah neighbourhood of eastern Gaza City. Five people were also killed in an Israeli air attack in Jabalia an-Nazla, in northern Gaza.

Earlier, an Israeli attack hit tents sheltering displaced Palestinians in al-Mawasi, southern Gaza – previously designated a so-called "safe zone" – igniting a major fire and killing at least five people, including infants. Al-Mawasi has come under repeated, deadly Israeli fire.

The death toll also includes includes six people who were desperately seeking aid. The injured, including children, were transferred to Nasser Hospital. Some showed wounds compatible with drone attacks, said Al Jazeera's correspondent Hani Mahmoud.

"Drone missiles are packed with nails, metals and shrapnel that explodes at high speed, causing internal bleeding," Mahmoud said. "These attacks are on the rise and target people in large crowds, in markets or while queueing for water."

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the highest ranking Catholic official in Jerusalem, entered Gaza yesterday to bring humanitarian aid and comfort to victims of Israel's strike on the sole Catholic church of the Palestinian enclave.

Three people died and several were injured in the strike on the Holy Family Church compound in Gaza City a day earlier. Photos released by the church showed its roof had been hit close to the main cross, scorching the stone facade, and that windows had been broken.

United States President Donald Trump contacted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after having "not a positive reaction" to the strike, according to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.

Meanwhile, Qatar, Egypt and the US presented Israel and Palestinian group Hamas with an updated ceasefire proposal, Axios reported on Thursday, citing two sources.

The two main updates in the latest proposal had to do with the scope of the Israeli military's withdrawal from Gaza during a ceasefire and the ratio of Palestinian prisoners to be released for each Israeli hostage, it said.

The Qatari prime minister is expected to meet with Hamas leaders in Doha today in an effort to get their agreement to the updated proposal, the report added.