Israel said it didn't mean to kill 42 civilians in Gaza on Sunday, saying it attacked a series of militant tunnels that caused people's homes to collapse

• Israel struck a series of tunnels in Gaza on Sunday, saying Hamas used it as a secret transport link.
• 42 civilians were killed. Israel said homes were accidentally destroyed in the assault.
• Over the past week Israel has launched airstrikes into Gaza and Hamas fired rockets into Israel.

Israel has said that it didn't intend to kill 42 civilians in Gaza on Sunday, saying its attack on a series of militant tunnels had accidentally destroyed several homes as a result.

At around 1 a.m. local time, the Israel Defense Forces bombed a series of tunnels that it claimed was "underground military infrastructure," used by Hamas, the Gaza-based, Palestinian militant group, the Associated Press reported.

"The underground facility collapsed, causing the civilian houses' foundations above them to collapse as well, leading to unintended casualties," the spokesperson's office said.

The casualties made Sunday the bloodiest day of fighting so far in the wave of violence between Israel and Hamas. Since early last week, Israel has launched airstrikes into Gaza, while Hamas has launched rockets into Israel.

Most of the casualties have been on the Palestinian side, with Israel's Iron Dome defense system destroying many of the incoming rockets.

As of Sunday, at least 188 Palestinians have been killed as a result of the fighting, the AP reported.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that the fighting would continue as long as Hamas continued to send rockets toward Israel.

"We were attacked by Hamas," he told CBS' "Face the Nation" on Sunday.

"Thousands of rockets and missiles on our cities and I think any country has to defend itself and has a natural right of self-defense. We'll do whatever it takes to restore order and quiet."

Tensions between the Israelis and Palestinians reached a boiling point this month over a plan to evict dozens of Palestinians from East Jerusalem, and Palestinian worshippers clashed with Israeli police at the al-Aqsa mosque.

Over the weekend, Israel bombed a Gaza City office building housing several international news outlets, including the Associated Press and Al Jazeera.

The IDF said the attack was merited as it believed Hamas spies were using the building as a base. The AP said there was no evidence to suggest that was true, and called for an investigation.

The US, one of Israel's closest allies, has been criticized for supporting the IDF's actions, after President Joe Biden said Israel's response was "not a significant overreaction."