Israel launches deadly Gaza strikes as Mideast tensions rise

Israeli bombing killed dozens of people overnight in Gaza, the health ministry of the Hamas-run Palestinian territory said on Thursday (Jan 4), as regional tensions have surged over the almost three-months-old war.

Israeli bombing killed dozens of people overnight in Gaza, the health ministry of the Hamas-run Palestinian territory said on Thursday (Jan 4), as regional tensions have surged over the almost three-months-old war.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was due to head to the Middle East, a US official said on condition of anonymity, the top diplomat's fourth trip to the region since the Hamas attack of Oct 7 triggered the bloodiest ever Gaza war.

The Israeli military, in its campaign to destroy the Islamist militant group, has reported more strikes in and around Gaza City, now a largely devastated urban combat zone, and Khan Yunis, the biggest urban centre in the besieged territory's south.

The Gaza health ministry reported "dozens of martyrs and more than 100 wounded in the continued barbaric aerial and artillery bombardment of citizens' homes in the Gaza Strip".

The Israeli army said it targeted "terrorists" attempting to "place an explosive device near soldiers" and an arms depot in Khan Yunis.

Fires sparked by bombing raged in Gaza's central Deir al-Balah area and the Al-Maghazi refugee camp.