India, March 17 -- At least 12 Palestinians, including two boys, a pregnant woman and eight police officers, were killed Sunday by Israeli airstrikes in the war-torn Gaza Strip, hospital authorities said.

A strike Sunday morning hit a house in the urban refugee camp of Nuseirat in central Gaza and killed four people, including a couple in their 30s and their 10-year-old son, according to the nearby Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. The woman had been pregnant with twins, the hospital said. The fourth fatality, a 15-year-old neighbour, was taken to the Awda hospital in Nuseirat.

"We were sleeping and got up to the strike of a missile. The strike was strong," said Mahmoud al-Muhtaseb, a neighbour. "There was no prior warning." Another strike Sund...