AT LEAST 14 people have been killed in Israeli air strikes that targeted central and southern Gaza overnight into this morning, civil defence officials have said

The news emerged as friends and family members of a Turkish-American activist killed by an Israeli solider prepared to honour her in a funeral.

The air strikes in Gaza City hit one home housing 11 people, including women and children, and another strike hit a tent in Khan Younis housing displaced Palestinians, according to Gaza’s civil defence.

The strikes followed more air strikes earlier this week that hit a tent camp on Tuesday and United Nations school housing displaced people on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the body of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, the Turkish-American activist killed on 6 September by an Israeli soldier, was returned to her hometown late on Friday accompanied by a police honour guard, the official Turkish news agency reported.

Her coffin draped in a Turkish flag, she was carried from a hearse to a hospital in Didim by six officers in ceremonial uniform.

Her funeral is due to be held in the coastal town in western Turkey later today.

The 26-year-old activist from Seattle, who held US and Turkish citizenship, was killed after a demonstration against Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, according to an Israeli protester who witnessed the shooting.

The Israeli military said on Tuesday that Ms Eygi was likely shot “indirectly and unintentionally” by Israeli forces. Turkey announced it will conduct its own investigation into her death.

Anadolu Agency reported her body arrived in Didim after a post-mortem examination at the Izmir Forensic Medicine Institute.

As Ms Eygi’s family watched the coffin being unloaded, her mother had to be helped by medics, the agency said.

Her killing was condemned by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken as the United States, Egypt and Qatar push for a ceasefire and the release of the hostages.

Talks have repeatedly slowed down as Israel and Hamas accuse each other of making new and unacceptable demands.