Israeli attacks kill 16 in Gaza and Lebanon

CAIRO, April 24 (Reuters): Israeli fire killed at least 12 people including six police officers across Gaza on Friday, Palestinian health officials said.

An Israeli strike in Gaza City killed three people, including two police; tank shelling killed two in Beit Lahiya; and a strike on Khan Younis in the south killed seven including four police, according to local medics.

The Israeli military confirmed it had conducted a strike on Gaza City and said it was targeting Hamas militants. The military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the other reported strikes.

The strikes in Gaza City and Khan Younis targeted the local police force, Gaza's interior ministry said. The strike in Khan Younis targeted a police vehicle, the ministry added. Medics and residents said it hit near a wedding hall.

Meanwhile, four people were killed on Saturday in Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon, Lebanon's state news agency reported, while the Israeli military said Hezbollah had fired rockets at Israel, posing the latest challenges to the tenuous ceasefire.

The ceasefire agreed between Israel and Lebanon has led to a significant reduction in hostilities, but Israel and Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah have continued to clash in southern Lebanon, where Israel has kept soldiers in the self-declared buffer zone.

A statement from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the military had been instructed to attack Hezbollah targets in Lebanon forcefully, providing no further details.