CAIRO, Egypt
At least 13 people have reportedly been killed in air strikes across Gaza overnight, after Israel said it was resuming fighting "in full force" in the Palestinian territory.
Two civilians were killed and
five others injured when an Israeli drone hit a tent near the al-Mawasi
humanitarian zone, the Palestinian Wafa news agency reports, citing Red
Crescent medics.
Israel's army said it had
targeted what it called a Hamas military site, from where the group was
preparing to fire into Israel. Vessels controlled by Hamas were also hit, the
army said.
It comes after Israel's Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it had "resumed combat in full
force", adding: "This is just the beginning."
The bombing is not of the same
scale as it was on Tuesday, when the Hamas-run health ministry says more than
400 people were killed - but it shows no let-up in Israel's fresh assault.
Tom Fletcher, the UN's
under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief, said of
Tuesday's strikes that "the intensity of the killings is now off the
scale".
Wafa says a woman and child
were killed in an air strike north of Khan Younis overnight into Wednesday,
while four others were killed in a strike in Gaza City.
Gaza's health ministry has yet
to give a death toll for the latest strikes.
Tuesday's strikers constituted
the heaviest bombardment since a fragile ceasefire and hostage exchange deal
came into effect on 19 January, and came after Israel and Hamas failed to agree
how to take it beyond an initial phase.
The deal involves three
stages, and negotiations on the second stage were meant to have started six
weeks ago - but this did not happen.
Under the proposed second
phase, Israel would withdraw troops from Gaza - but Israel and the US instead
pushed for an extension of the first phase, with more hostages being released
in exchange for more Palestinian prisoners.
Netanyahu cast the resumption
of fighting as a return to Israel's primary aims - to return the hostages and
"get rid" of Hamas - but families of hostages have criticised the
decision, saying it showed the government had given up on their loved ones.
Israel says Hamas is still
holding 59 hostages, 24 of whom are believed to be alive.
Egypt, a mediator in talks,
said the fresh strikes were a "blatant" violation of the ceasefire.
Israel previously imposed a
total halt on all humanitarian aid entering Gaza, causing widespread
international alarm.
"For two weeks now, our
food supplies are rotting at the borders, the medicines are expiring, the
water's been cut off, the power's been cut off - and all that to punish
civilians further," Mr Fletcher told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
He said he had spoken to the
UN security council on Tuesday in a bid to lift the blockade and get the
ceasefire deal back on track, including the release of hostages.
"I'm not asking for the
moon here," the UN chief added.
He said his team was going
"carry on going" in Gaza because they are "determined to do
everything they can to save as many survivors as possible.
"They're saying to us:
What does it say about our values that we can't stop a 21st Century atrocity
happening before our eyes - and not just happening, but being cheered on before
our eyes?"
Hamas has confirmed that
several of its leaders were killed in Tuesday's strikes, including its de facto
head of government, Essam a-Da'lees.
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