The Israeli military said it was responding to a breach of the ceasefire the previous day, in which its troops had identified eight gunmen emerging from a tunnel in Rafah, an area in southern Gaza controlled by Israeli forces under the truce.

It had targeted commanders, weapons caches and manufacturing sites belonging to Palestinian militant group Hamas and its ally, Islamic Jihad, the military said.

Hamas, which retains control of just under half of Gaza where nearly all its more than 2 million residents live mainly in makeshift tents and damaged buildings, said Israel had violated the truce. It did not say whether any of its members or sites were struck in Saturday’s attacks.

On Sunday, Israel is due to reopen the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt under United States (US) President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war.

The war began after Hamas-led gunmen attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023. Israeli officials have said the war could resume if Hamas does not lay down its weapons.

Israeli warplanes bombed the Sheikh Radwan police station west of Gaza City, killing 13 people, including five officers, police in Gaza said. Rescue teams were searching for more casualties at the site, said the Hamas-run police.

Other airstrikes hit at least two houses in Gaza City, in northern-central Gaza, and a tent encampment sheltering displaced Palestinians in Khan Younis further south, local officials said.

Video footage from Gaza City showed charred, blackened and destroyed walls at an apartment in a multi-storey building, and debris scattered inside it and outside on the street.

–Reuters–