Israel's army detained the director of one of northern Gaza 's last functioning hospitals as overnight strikes in the territory killed nine people, including children, Palestinian medical officials said Saturday.

With the Israeli military maintaining its lethal siege on northern Gaza, concerns are increasing that Israel is systematically implementing a strategy to displace Palestinians by declaring the region a combat zone.

Israel’s war on Gaza has so far killed over 45,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to the local health ministry. The air and ground assault has caused widespread destruction and displaced around 90 per cent of the besieged territory’s 2.3 million people, often multiple times.