Israel’s military struck the Gaza Strip a day after truce talks in Cairo coincided with a major but brief cross-border escalation involving Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, AFP reports.

Witnesses and AFP correspondents reported air strikes and shelling in Gaza City and other parts of the besieged Palestinian territory overnight, and Israel’s military said it had struck fighters in the south.

Medics said an air strike on a Gaza City house killed at least five people, with two rescuers telling AFP that more victims may be buried in the ruins in the Al-Rimal neighbourhood.

“There are still martyrs and body parts under the rubble, most of them women, men and elderly people who were sleeping” when the building was hit, ambulance driver Hussein Muhaysen said.

An Israeli military statement claimed troops had “eliminated” dozens of fighters over the past day in the southern areas of Khan Younis and Rafah, and near Deir al-Balah in central Gaza.

Opinion

Geopolitical shift in ME

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A prolonged conflict will have far-reaching implications for regional geopolitics, sharpening the divisions among Gulf countries that are directly affected by the tensions.

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