Israel's army is flattening the remaining ruins of the city of Rafah on the southern edge of the Gaza Strip, residents say, in what they fear is a part of a plan to herd the population into confinement in a giant camp on the barren ground.

Hospitals in the Gaza Strip received the remains of 51 Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrikes in the past 24 hours, the local health ministry said Sunday, bringing the Palestinian death toll from the 18-month Israel-Hamas war to 52,

Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed over 52,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were fighters or civilians. Israel's bombardment and ground operations have destroyed vast areas of Gaza and left most of its population homeless.