CAIRO — Israeli strikes killed at least eight Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, health officials said, as ceasefire efforts meant to end fighting between Israel and the Hamas militant group falter.

In the weeks since halting its joint bombing with the United States in Iran, Israel has stepped up its attacks in Gaza. Medics said an Israeli strike killed one Palestinian near a police post and another at a tent encampment in Khan Younis in the enclave's south.

The Israeli military said it killed a militant who posed an immediate threat to forces in the area.

Separately, Gaza medics said another Israeli airstrike killed at least three people at a community kitchen near Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza area. The Israeli military said the strike targeted a Hamas commander developing anti-tank missiles.

Gaza medical officials said three more Palestinians were killed, one in a shooting incident in Khan Younis and two others in an Israeli airstrike near a bakery in Deir al-Balah.

In addition, the Israeli military said it had killed Bahaa Baroud, a Hamas Operations Headquarters commander, in an airstrike on Saturday, accusing him of planning multiple imminent attacks against troops and Israeli civilians in recent weeks.

The United Nations demanded on Monday that Israel take measures to prevent acts of "genocide" in Gaza.

In a report, the UN rights office said Israel's actions in Gaza since the start of the conflict in October 2023 involved "gross violations" of international law, amounting in many cases to "war crimes and other atrocity crimes".

UN rights chief Volker Turk urged Israel to ensure compliance with a 2024 International Court of Justice order that it take measures to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military intercepted on Monday boats off the coast of Cyprus, part of the latest wave of flotilla activists attempting to break Israel's blockade of Gaza.

More than 50 vessels departed from the port in Marmaris, Turkiye, last week in what the organizers of the Global Sumud Flotilla described as the final leg of their planned journey to Gaza's shores.

The organization's livestream on Monday showed activists aboard several vessels putting on life jackets and raising their hands before a boat carrying Israeli troops approached. Wearing tactical gear, they boarded the ship, and the livestream abruptly ended. Many of the ships are currently off the coast of Cyprus.

In a statement issued on Monday, Turkiye's Foreign Ministry said, "We condemn the intervention by Israeli forces in international waters against the Global Flotilla ... which constitutes a new act of piracy."

Agencies - Xinhua