Israel carries out strikes on Gaza, occupied West Bank and Lebanon on eve of talks

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Israel launched a barrage of attacks across Gaza, the occupied West Bank and Lebanon on Wednesday in an escalation set to hinder ceasefire talks scheduled for Thursday.

Israeli drone strikes killed four people near the occupied West Bank town of Tamoun, the Wafa news agency reported, with the men's bodies being detained by the Israeli army. The Palestine Red Crescent said it was blocked from accessing the scene of strikes.

Fighting also occurred in the occupied West Bank, where Israel's military said it conducted a raid on Tubas, near Tamoun. One fighter, a member of the Ezzedine Al Qassam Brigades, was killed.

“Our fighters have been engaged for hours in fierce clashes with the invading occupation forces in Tubas,” the group said, The Israeli army said the raid was “counterterror activity”.

In Gaza, which has been repeatedly bombarded since the war began on October 7, at least 21 people were killed by Israeli fire this morning. Strikes on homes in the central Nuseirat and Maghazi refugee camps as well as in Rafah to the south and Beit Lahia, to the north brought the death toll to more than 39,900.

The war began after a surprise attack on southern Israel by Hamas militants killed about 1,200.

In Khan Younis, Gaza's second largest city, the enclave's civil defence team worked to recover people trapped under the rubble of several homes destroyed by strikes in the east of the city which killed eight and injured 31. More areas of the city were hit by tank fire.

Residents and those displaced to Khan Younis, which had previously been declared a safe humanitarian zone by Israel, were ordered to evacuate several areas of the city again by Israel last week.

Israel said it was responding to Hamas rocket fire towards Tel Aviv on Tuesday and had struck rocket launching pads and militants among 40 military targets over 24 hours, including in central Gaza, Khan Younis, and western Rafah in the south.

In Lebanon, at least 17 people were injured in an Israeli air strike on the town of Abbasiyyah, near the southern city of Tyre.

On Wednesday evening, aerial assaults were reported on the border villages of Blida, Houla and Aita Al Shaab. No casualties were initially reported. Two people were injured in a strike on Rab Al Thalathine, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry.

It was initially unclear who Israel was targeting, but it regularly hits members of Hezbollah in Lebanese territory. Those attacks frequently incur civilian casualties.

The sudden increase and breadth of attacks came on the eve of renewed ceasefire talks to be held in Doha on Thursday, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said an Israeli delegation would attend.

A Hamas representative in Lebanon said the group would not take part, saying Israeli aggression must stop “immediately”.

“Hamas is not concerned with Thursday's negotiations and has not changed its position, and will not attend,” Hamas representative in Lebanon, Ahmad Abdul Hadi told The National on Wednesday.