Israel raids kill 29 in Gaza as truce efforts intensify

GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories (AFP) - Israeli air strikes on Sunday killed 29 Palestinians in the bloodiest day so far of its air campaign on the Gaza Strip, as diplomatic efforts to broker a truce intensified.

With Egypt at the centre of efforts to broker a ceasefire, Palestinian officials said it was possible a deal would be reached "today or tomorrow".

But there was no letup in the bloodshed in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, with medics saying women and children accounted for most of Sunday's 26 killed, among them five babies and toddlers, in Israeli strikes from the air.

In the day's most lethal raid, at least nine members of the same family - five of them children - were among 10 people killed when an Israeli missile destroyed a family home in Gaza City, the health ministry said.