Israeli Airstrike Hits Gaza City Villa

An Israeli airstrike hit a villa in Gaza City, civil defense authorities said.

Israel's military has leveled swathes of the Palestinian enclave since the start of the offensive in Gaza in October 2023.

Israeli airstrikes across Gaza killed at least 50 Palestinians in the past 24 hours, Palestinian health officials said, after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken ended his latest visit to the region with a truce deal still elusive.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant declared Israel's readiness against threats during their respective visits to northern Israel and the Gaza strip.

During his visit to the Ramat David Air Force Base in the north, Netanyahu said the military were ready to meet any scenario defensively and offensively.

"I am here, at an air force base, to closely observe our preparations against threats both near and far. We are prepared for any scenario - both defensively and offensively,” Netanyahu said.

On the same day, Gallant assessed a military operation in the Gaza Strip that resulted in what he says is the defeat of the Rafah Brigade and the destruction of over 150 tunnels.

Over 100,000 displaced Palestinians are on the move again in central Gaza, a United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) officer said, after the Israeli military issued new evacuation orders in the heavily overcrowded area of Deir Al-Balah.

The orders, which the military said were needed to clear civilians from what had become "a dangerous combat zone," were soon followed by tank fire with at least one person killed and several wounded by machine gun fire, medics and residents said.

Most of Gaza's 2.3 million population has been displaced multiple times since the start of the Israeli campaign. Even in areas designated safe zones, there have been regular reports of casualties from Israeli strikes.