Israeli airstrikes killed at least 10 Palestinians in Gaza, with seven dead in an attack on two houses in the north Gaza town of Beit Lahiya and three fatalities in a strike on a house in Nuseirat camp in the enclave’s centre, medics told Reuters.

Several people were wounded in both attacks, they said, adding that Israeli forces had sent tanks into the northeast of Nuseirat camp.

Palestinians said the new aerial and ground offensives and forced evacuations were “ethnic cleansing” aimed at emptying two northern Gaza towns and a refugee camp of their population to create buffer zones.

Israel denies this, saying it is fighting Hamas, who launch attacks from there.