NEW DELHI: The Israeli army intensified its strikes across Gaza on Tuesday as it carried out some of the heaviest shelling in weeks.

Meanwhile, fresh evacuations were ordered by the army in the north of the enclave, as it warned civilians that they were in a "dangerous combat zone".

The residents in central and southern areas of the Gaza Strip also reported strikes by air and shelling from tanks on the ground late on Tuesday. 

Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee, in a post on social media platform X, appealed to the residents of four zones in Beit Lahiya, located on the northern edge of Gaza, to shift to two designated areas.

He stated that the military "will work with extreme force against terrorist infrastructure and subversive elements" in the region.

In a statement, which was issued later on Tuesday, the military said it "follows international law and takes feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm."

Israel renewed its bombing and shelling of northern Gaza almost four months after its army announced that it was moving down troops there and claimed that Hamas no longer controlled those areas.

Israel this month also drew down most of its forces in southern Gaza. The bombardment took place on Tuesday after alerts were sounded regarding incoming rockets in two southern Israeli border towns, even though no casualties were reported.

The responsibility for the attacks on Sderot and Nir Am was claimed by the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, which is a group allied to Hamas.

Iran-backed Hezbollah group fired dozens of rockets at northern Israel on Tuesday (April 23) while responding to the killing of two civilians in Lebanon's south in a strike which was blamed on Israel. 

Israel has been exchanging regular fire with the Iran-backed Hezbollah group in the south of Lebanon since October.

Hezbollah fighters fired "dozens of Katyusha rockets" at northern Israel "as part of the response to the Israeli enemy's attacks on... civilian homes, specifically the horrific massacre in Hanin and the killing and injuring of civilians," said the group in a statement.

The local officials and rescuers stated that two members of the same family were killed in an Israeli strike on a house in Hanin, close to the Israeli border.