Khan Younis, Gaza - Israel bombed a so-called "humanitarian zone" in southern Gaza overnight, killing the head of the territory's police force, which has been struggling to maintain civil order amid widespread death and starvation.

Gaza's civil defense agency said two other Israeli strikes later on Thursday elsewhere in the territory killed 14 Palestinians.

The Israeli military confirmed it had carried out the overnight strike on Al-Mawasi – which it has repeatedly bombed despite declaring it a "humanitarian zone" – targeting deputy police chief Hussam Shahwan. It claimed without providing evidence that he was planning "attacks" on invading Israeli troops.

Shahwan was among 11 people killed in the strike, which according to the rescuers and authorities in Gaza also left the commander of the police force, Mahmud Salah, dead.

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"Eleven people were martyred, including three children and two women, and 15 were injured after the (Israeli) occupation aircraft bombed a tent housing displaced people in the Al-Mawasi area, west of Khan Yunis city in the southern Gaza Strip," said a civil defense statement.

Ambulance driver Saleem Abu Subha said rescuers "found the injured lying on the ground, most of them children, as well as two female martyrs" at the site of the strike.

"About 10 tents were damaged, and scattered fires were visible," he said.

Gaza's interior ministry condemned in a statement the killing of the two top officers, saying "they were performing their humanitarian and national duty in serving our people".

It accused Israel of deliberately spreading "chaos" and deepening "the human suffering."

"The police force is a civil protection force that works to provide services to citizens," the ministry statement said.

After nearly 15 months of relentless assaults, civil order in Gaza is on the brink of collapse, with looting and crime increasing amid the desperation and Israel's assassination of those responsible for law enforcement.

With every facet of Palestinian society being targeted for destruction, there is a growing consensus among human rights organizations that the Israeli assault is genocidal.