Israeli airstrikes kill at least 30 in Gaza, say medics

Israeli strikes across Gaza have killed at least 30 Palestinians since last night, Palestinian media and medics said, as the Israeli army tightened its siege on northern areas of the territory.

An airstrike damaged two houses in the town of Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza, where the army has carried out new operations since 5 October, and killed at least 20 people, the Palestinian official news agency WAFA and Hamas media said.

The Gaza health ministry did not immediately confirm the toll. Four other people were killed in the central Gazan town of Al-Zawayda around midnight, medics said.

Palestinian health officials said six people had also been killed in two separate Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City and Deir Al-Balah in the central area of the narrow territory.

The Israeli military said, without giving details, that its forces had "eliminated terrorists" in central Gaza and Jabalia area. Israeli troops had also located weapons and explosives over the past day in the southern Rafah area, where "terrorist infrastructure sites" had been eliminated, it said.

Palestinians said the new attacks and Israeli orders for people to evacuate were aimed at emptying two northern Gaza towns and a refugee camp to create buffer zones.

Israeli planes dropped leaflets over Beit Lahiya ordering residents who have not yet left their homes and shelters housing displaced families to quit the town completely.

"To all those who remained at homes and shelters, you are risking your lives. For your safety you have to head south," said the leaflet, which was written in Arabic.

Israel says its forces have killed hundreds of Palestinian gunmen and dismantled military infrastructure in Jabalia in the past month.

More than 43,300 Palestinians have been killed in more than a year of war in Gaza, the authorities in Gaza say, and much of the territory has been reduced to ruins.

The war began after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on 7 October 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.

In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said at least four people were killed during an Israeli military raid and airstrikes.

Violence has surged in the West Bank since the start of the war in Gaza, with almost daily sweeps by Israeli forces that have involved thousands of arrests and regular gun battles between security forces and Palestinian fighters.