Israeli strikes overnight and into Thursday killed at least 70 Palestinians and wounded dozens across the Gaza Strip, according to health officials.
Medics said Israeli strikes targeted several houses in northern and southern areas of the Gaza Strip. There was no immediate comment from Israel.
The air strikes hit houses in the cities of Khan Younis and Rafah in southern Gaza and the northern town of Beit Lahiya, they said.
The European Hospital in the southern city of Rafah said 26 people, mostly women and children, were killed in strikes on two family homes overnight. One of the attacks killed a father and his seven children, it said.
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The Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis received the bodies of seven people killed overnight in an attack on a home. In northern Gaza, the Indonesian Hospital said it had received the bodies of seven people killed in a strike on a home in Beit Lahiya, a town near the border.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the latest attacks.
They come after the Israeli military earlier said air raid sirens sounded in several areas of the country following a missile attack from Yemen.
In Jerusalem, several explosions were heard shortly after the sirens sounded early on Thursday. There were no immediate reports of injuries.
The military said a missile launched from Yemen was intercepted before reaching Israeli airspace. Yemen’s Houthi rebels did not immediately claim the attack.
Yemen’s Houthi group this week resumed missile attacks following the collapse of Israel’s ceasefire with Hamas.
Police also reported sirens in central Israel in an attack at 4am local time.
Israel said on Wednesday its troops had retaken part of a corridor which bisects Gaza, while the country’s defence minister warned that attacks would intensify until Hamas frees dozens of hostages and gives up control of the territory.
The military said it had retaken part of the Netzarim Corridor which divides northern Gaza from the south and from where it had previously withdrawn as part of a ceasefire that began in January.
That truce was shattered on Tuesday by Israeli air strikes which killed more than 400 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the Gaza health ministry.
The advances on the ground by Israel on Wednesday – which included sending more troops to southern Gaza – threatened to drag the sides into all-out war again.
The ceasefire had given war-weary Palestinians some respite, allowed a much-needed surge of humanitarian aid into Gaza – and led to the release of dozens of hostages who had been held for more than 15 months.
Within Israel, the resumption of air strikes and ground operations in Gaza has raised concerns about the fate of roughly two dozen hostages held by Hamas who are believed to still be alive.
Thousands of Israelis took part in antigovernment demonstrations in Jerusalem with many calling for a deal to bring the captives home.
A Hamas spokesman said the moves by ground forces in Gaza was a clear sign that Israel had backed out of the truce and was reimposing a “blockade”. There have been no reports of rocket attacks by Hamas since Tuesday’s bombardment.
Also on Wednesday, the United Nations said one of its employees was killed in Gaza and five others were wounded in an apparent strike on a guest house. It was not immediately clear who was behind the strike, the UN said.
Israel said air strikes on Wednesday hit dozens of militants and militant sites, including the command centre of a Hamas battalion, but denied Palestinian claims that it hit the UN guest house in the central city of Deir al-Balah.
Defence minister Israel Katz said the military would soon order Palestinians to evacuate from combat zones. – Associated Press
