Israel steps up strikes in Southern Gaza, residents say

Intense fighting has continued in Gaza, even as Israel announced plans to pull back some combat troops.

Residents say Israeli war planes and tanks have stepped up bombings and artillery fire in the southern city of Khan Younis.

The Israeli military says its troops have killed dozens of Palestinian fighters in Jabalia in the north, and targeted others in Gaza City and coastal areas.

Hamas officials say more than 200 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in the past 24 hours.

In the West Bank, the IDF says it killed four Palestinian militants in a counter-terrorism operation.

On Monday, Israel’s military said it was planning to pull some reservists out of Gaza in preparation for “prolonged fighting” it said would continue all year.

Israeli troops have killed four Palestinians during what they said was a counterterrorism raid near Qalqilya in the north of the occupied West Bank.

The four killed were aged between 18 and 29, and their bodies were removed by Israeli forces, locals in Azzun said. A witness told the BBC the raid went on from before midnight until early morning.

Tensions have been running high in the West Bank since the Hamas attacks of 7 October sparked the war in the Gaza Strip.

The Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, recently warned that the territory could “implode”.

The Israeli military said in a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, that in Azzun “terrorists shot and threw explosives at our forces. The fighters identified the building where the terrorist squad was hiding and at the end of an exchange of fire, they killed the four terrorists.”

The Palestinian news agency, Wafa said that early on Tuesday, four men “were shot dead during confrontations that erupted as Israeli occupation forces stormed the town”. Quoting Palestinian security sources, it said that soldiers “fired live ammunition, stun grenades, and teargas towards the local residents”.

A local man in Azzun told the BBC: “There have been daily assaults since October 7, even though there are no militants in this area. Altogether, seven people have been killed and there have been many arrests.”