GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories, May 8, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Gaza's civil defence agency said an Israeli air strike killed five people in the north of the war-ravaged Palestinian territory early Thursday.

Several more were wounded in the strike "today at dawn on the home of the Abu Rayyan family in the town of Beit Lahiya", north of Gaza City, the agency's spokesperson Mahmoud Basal told AFP.

The Israeli military has yet to comment on the reported strike.

It followed an Israeli bombardment a day earlier that rescuers in Gaza said killed 59 people, most of them in Gaza City.

Wednesday's strikes were among the deadliest since the resumption of Israel's offensive on Gaza after a two-month ceasefire in the Palestinian territory collapsed on March 18.

A planned expanded offensive revealed by the Israeli military this week has drawn international condemnation.

UN agencies had warned earlier of a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, which has been devastated by 19 months of war, triggered by Hamas's deadly attack on Israel in October 2023.

Israel's broader offensive, approved by the government amid a two-month aid blockade on Gaza, would include displacing "most" of its residents, its military has said.

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Wednesday that at least 2,545 people have been killed since Israel resumed its campaign in March, bringing the war's overall toll to more than 52,650.

Palestinian militant group Hamas's 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Militants also abducted 251 people, 58 of whom are still held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.

On Wednesday, UN experts demanded action to avert the "annihilation" of Palestinians in Gaza, saying the world faced a decision to "remain passive and witness the slaughter of innocents or take part in crafting a just resolution".