Israel-Gaza conflict: IDF strikes on enclave kill 32 on eve of Netanyahu’s White House visit

Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip have killed at least 32 people, including more than a dozen women and children, local health officials say as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heads to the US to meet with President Donald Trump.

Israel last month ended its ceasefire with Hamas and has since seized territory to pressure the militant group to accept a new deal for a truce and release of remaining hostages.

It has blocked the import of food, fuel and other supplies for over a month to the coastal territory heavily reliant on outside assistance.

Israel’s military late on Sunday ordered Palestinians to evacuate several neighbourhoods in central Gaza’s Deir al-Balah shortly after about 10 projectiles were fired from Gaza — the largest barrage from the territory since Israel resumed the war.

The military said about five were intercepted.

Hamas’ military arm claimed responsibility.

Police said a rocket fell in Ashkelon city and fragments fell in several other areas.

The Magen David Adom emergency service said one man was lightly injured. The military later said it struck a rocket launcher in Gaza.

Israeli strikes overnight into Sunday hit a tent and a house in the southern city of Khan Younis, killing five men, five women and five children, according to Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies.

The body of a toddler took up one end of an emergency stretcher.

A female journalist was among the dead.

“My daughter is innocent. She had no involvement, she loved journalism and adored it,” her mother, Amal Kaskeen said.

Israeli shelling killed at least four people in the Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

The bodies of seven people, including a child and three women, arrived at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, according to an Associated Press journalist.

And a strike in Gaza City hit people waiting outside a bakery and killed at least six, including three children, according to the civil defence, which operates under the Hamas-run government.

Dozens of Palestinians took to the streets in Jabaliya for new anti-war protests on Sunday. Footage on social media showed people marching and chanting against Hamas. Such protests, while rare, have occurred in recent weeks.

There is also anger inside Israel over the war’s resumption and its effects on remaining hostages in Gaza.

Families of hostages along with some of those recently freed from Gaza and their supporters have urged Trump to help ensure the fighting ends.

Mr Netanyahu will meet with Trump on Monday for the second time since Mr Trump began his latest term in January.

The Israeli prime minister said they would discuss the war and the new 17 per cent tariff imposed on Israel, part of a sweeping global decision by the US.