Israel’s defense minister said on Wednesday that troops will remain in so-called security zones in the Gaza Strip, Lebanon and Syria indefinitely, remarks that could further complicate talks with Hamas over a ceasefire and hostage release.

The attack on the Mawasi area of southern Gaza killed at least a dozen people, according to the emergency rescue service in the territory. Israel did not confirm the location of the attack.

Israeli airstrikes hit around 40 targets across the Gaza Strip over the past day, the military said on Friday, hours after Hamas rejected an Israeli ceasefire offer that it said fell short of its demand to agree a full end to the war.

At least 37 people have been killed in a series of Israeli strikes, most in areas where displaced civilians have set up tents, Gaza's Hamas-run civil defence agency says. Witnesses in al-Mawasi told the BBC that tents were engulfed in flames following a "powerful" explosion,