Israel 'intensifying' bombing campaign ahead of planned truce

Israel is "intensifying" its bombing campaign of the Gaza Strip ahead of a planned four-day truce on Friday, according to Middle East Eye correspondent Maha Hussaini.

She said it was a common tactic of Israel to ramp up its attacks on Gaza before a pause in violence:

"We are used to Israeli forces intensifying attacks and air strikes on different places across the Gaza Strip only a few hours before a truce.

"Last night when we were supposed to wake up to a humanitarian truce we witnessed some of the most intense bombing that we have seen since we evacuated our homes and came to the central Gaza Strip to take refuge.

"Dozens, or hundreds even, of artillery and naval attacks and bombings were hitting everywhere around us... just very, very close to the place where we're taking refuge and many houses across our areas were targeted, [including] residential buildings, with people taking refuge in these buildings, including extended families.

"So as the humanitarian truce was postponed for another 24 hours we are also expecting that we will be witnessing another intense night of Israeli bombing across the Gaza Strip."