Gaza's civil defense agency said an Israeli strike on a home in the northern town of Jabalia killed 14 people on Monday.

"The number of martyrs from the targeting of the Al-Bursh family home has risen to 14, including six children and three women, in addition to more than 20 missing individuals still under the rubble," agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on Monday for an independent investigation into the deaths of at least 31 Palestinians near a U.S.-backed aid distribution site in Gaza, after rescuers blamed the deaths on Israeli gunfire.

"I am appalled by the reports of Palestinians killed and injured while seeking aid in Gaza yesterday. It is unacceptable that Palestinians are risking their lives for food," Guterres said in a statement. "I call for an immediate and independent investigation into these events and for perpetrators to be held accountable."

Climate campaigner Greta Thunberg and other 11 activists set sail on Sunday afternoon for Gaza on a ship aimed at "breaking Israel's siege" of the devastated territory, organizers said.

The sailing boat Madleen, operated by activist group Freedom Flotilla Coalition, departed from the Sicilian port of Catania, in southern Italy.

Kurdish security forces in northeast Syria said an Islamic State group attack killed three personnel on Sunday, as the jihadists keep up their attacks in Kurdish-controlled areas of the war-torn country.

Noting "escalating activity" by the jihadists, a statement from the Asayish security forces said an IS cell "targeted a patrol" from the force's convoy and road security department on the Raqa-Hasakeh road.

Gaza's civil defense agency said Israeli fire killed at least 22 people on Sunday near a U.S.-backed aid distribution center in the southern city of Rafah, revising an earlier death toll.

Hamas announced that it has replied to a U.S.-backed Gaza ceasefire proposal, but Washington's main negotiator criticized the response as "totally unacceptable".

Prince Faisal bin Farhan will become the first Saudi foreign minister to visit the occupied West Bank on Sunday, a diplomatic source told AFP, as the Gaza war drags on and Riyadh pushes for Palestinian statehood.

Israel struck western Syria overnight, the Israeli military and Syrian state media said, with one civilian reportedly killed in the first such attack on the country in nearly a month.

Israel has said that Hamas must accept a hostage deal in Gaza or "be annihilated", as U.S. President Donald Trump announced that a ceasefire agreement is "very close".

Defense Minister Israel Katz vowed on Friday to build a "Jewish Israeli state" in the occupied West Bank, a day after the government announced the creation of 22 new settlements in the Palestinian territory.

He said the move was a "clear message" to French President Emmanuel Macron, whom Israel's foreign ministry accused of carrying out a "crusade against the Jewish state."