Israeli strikes have killed at least 73 people, including women and children, in the city of Beit Lahia in northern Gaza, the strip’s Hamas-run authorities say.
Dozens of others are injured and many are still trapped under the rubble after the bombing late on Saturday night, officials added.
Israel said it was checking reports of casualties but said the figures published by Hamas authorities were “exaggerated” and did not match information held by its military.
The latest strikes come just hours after reports of “heavy gunfire” from Israeli troops at the Indonesian Hospital in the city.
Hezbollah also continued to fire rockets into northern Israel on Saturday, with the Israeli military saying about 200 projectiles – which usually means rockets – were fired.
One person was killed by shrapnel while in his car, Israel’s medical service Magen David Adom said.
Also on Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said an attempt had been made on his life following reports of a drone attack on his private residence.
“The attempt by Iran’s proxy Hezbollah to assassinate me and my wife today was a grave mistake,” he wrote in a post on X.
Mr Netanyahu and his wife were not at home at the time, and no one was injured.
Iran says Hezbollah was behind the reported attack, Iranian state news agency IRNA reported. Hezbollah – which is funded and equipped by Iran – has not commented on the reports.
Netanyahu says he is undeterred after reported drone attack on his home
At least 42,519 people have been killed and tens of thousands injured in Gaza since the war began last October, the Hamas-run authorities say.
The war began after Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October 2023, leaving around 1,200 people dead and 251 taken to Gaza as hostages. Israel vowed to destroy Hamas in response.
Earlier this week, the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza raised some hopes in some quarters of an end to the conflict.
But the group’s deputy leader said Hamas would only be strengthened, and that Israeli hostages would not be returned until Israel withdrew from Gaza.
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, also said on Saturday that Sinwar’s death would not halt the “Axis of Resistance” – the regional network of Iran-backed, heavily armed militias that oppose Israel.
“Hamas is alive and will remain alive,” Khamenei’s statement added.
