GAZA CITY, Palestine

Israeli army on Thursday launched air and ground offensives on the Gaza Strip, targeting a civilian car, a house and an industrial zone.

“The Israeli army targeted a civilian car on the Saftawi Street in the northern Gaza Strip, killing two Palestinians,” an Anadolu Agency correspondent reported, citing witnesses and medical sources.

In a separate incident, an industrial zone in the east of Gaza was targeted and a huge fire broke out in a factory.

It was also reported that a house in the Jabalya refugee camp in the Tel al-Zaatar region of northern Gaza Strip was completely destroyed in the attacks.

Meanwhile, Hamas’ armed wing Qassam Brigades said in a statement that in response to the intense Israeli attacks it targeted Israel's Tselem land base with rockets.

They also announced that rockets were sent to the food and fuel base near Be'er Sheva, as well as the Mishmar HaNegev logistics base.

In a statement on Twitter, the Israeli army asked citizens to stay in protected areas until further notice.

At least 232 Palestinians have been killed, including 65 children and 39 women, and over 1,700 others injured in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip since May 10, according to the Gaza-based Health Ministry. Health centers, media offices and residential neighborhoods have been targeted.

Recent tensions that started in East Jerusalem during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan spread to Gaza as a result of Israeli assaults on worshippers in the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and the neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. In 1980 it annexed the entire city, a move never recognized by the international community.

*Writing by Ibrahim Mukhtar in Ankara