A woman and her three children in an IDF attack in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya, Palestinian sources reported Thursday morning. The attack was apparently not an air raid.

Witnesses in the Strip also said Israeli tanks hit three high-rises in Gaza City.

According to the Palestinians, 24 people have been killed by IDF fire since the early morning hours, including five in an attack on a building in the Sheikh Zaid neighborhood near Beit Lahiya. Two more Palestinians were killed during an Israeli attack that took place near the home of senior Hamas figure Mahmoud al-Zahar. Another two people were killed when a vehicle was hit as it was travelling in Gaza City's Zeitoun neighborhood.





IDF attack in Gaza Thursday (Photo: Reuters)

According to reports, four people were killed from IDF artillery fire in south Gaza, and the bodies of 15 others were pulled from the rubble of a number of structures throughout the Strip.

Gaza Health Ministry officials said the Israeli offensive has killed at least 1,060 Palestinians, about half of them civilians, including 300 children and teenagers. More than 4,500 Palestinians have been wounded, they said.

Meanwhile, 11 IDF soldiers were lightly injured overnight in a number of incidents in north Gaza. The troops were evacuated to hospitals in Israel for treatment.

IDF forces operating in Gaza overnight hit 35 terrorists in a series of clashes in the northern Strip. Air Force fighter jets struck at 70 targets and naval warships provided backup for the ground troops; the IDF Spokesman's Unit said Thursday.