Israeli strike on Gaza claims five lives

GAZA CITY, May 08 (AFP): Gaza's civil defence agency said an Israeli air strike killed five people in the north of the war-ravaged Palestinian territory early Thursday.

Several more were wounded in the strike "today at dawn on the home of the Abu Rayyan family in the town of Beit Lahiya", north of Gaza City, the agency's spokesperson Mahmoud Basal told AFP.

The Israeli military has yet to comment on the reported strike.

It followed an Israeli bombardment a day earlier that rescuers in Gaza said killed 59 people, most of them in Gaza City.

Wednesday's strikes were among the deadliest since the resumption of Israel's offensive on Gaza after a two-month ceasefire in the Palestinian territory collapsed on March 18.

A planned expanded offensive revealed by the Israeli military this week has drawn international condemnation.

UN agencies had warned earlier of a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, which has been devastated by 19 months of war, triggered by Hamas's deadly attack on Israel in October 2023.

Israel's broader offensive, approved by the government amid a two-month aid blockade on Gaza, would include displacing "most" of its residents, its military has said.