At least two Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza, health officials said, including one near Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City and another in a separate attack in the surrounding area.
The Israeli military told Reuters that both strikes targeted militants.
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The attacks came one day before the third anniversary of Hamas’s 7 October assault on southern Israel, the attack that triggered Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
Israel’s defence minister said the military had been placed on high alert ahead of the anniversary and warned that Gazans would face a “heavy price” if Israeli forces were attacked.
“If, heaven forbid, our forces are harmed, the ones who will pay the heavy price will be Hamas and the population of Gaza – beyond all proportion,” the statement added.
A child sits between makeshift displacement shelters in Gaza city
During a government meeting, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Hamas might seek to strike Israel before elections later this month.
“We are prepared for this; first and foremost, we will thwart such attempts, and in any case, we will respond with overwhelming force if they make this mistake,” Mr Netanyahu said.
Israelis are due to vote on 27 October, as Mr Netanyahu faces a close contest in his bid for re-election.
Hamas’s 7 October 2023 assault was the deadliest attack in Israel’s history, killing 1,221 people, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
The militants also seized 251 hostages and took them to Gaza; 44 are already dead.
Israel responded with a military offensive that has devastated much of Gaza and killed more than 74,200 people, according to the territory’s health ministry, which is controlled by Hamas and whose figures the United Nations considers reliable.
Since a ceasefire was declared last October, Israeli forces have killed more than 1,440 people in Gaza, the ministry said.
At a state ceremony marking three years since the attack, Mr Netanyahu said there would be “no Hamas rule in Gaza” and pledged to keep pursuing anyone involved in the assault or responsible for holding hostages.
