Israeli strikes killed 18 Palestinians in Gaza early Sunday, including four who were sheltering in a camp for displaced Palestinians in a hospital complex, while a stabbing attack in a Tel Aviv suburb claimed two Israeli lives.
The violence occurred as tensions continue to mount after nearly 10 months of war in Gaza and the killing of two senior militants in Lebanon and Iran last week.
The deaths of the two senior militants have provoked threats of revenge from Iran and its allies, heightening fears of a more devastating regional war.
The Pentagon is sending a squadron of fighter jets, warships and an aircraft carrier to the Middle East to defend Israel and U.S. troops from any violence by Iran and its proxies in the region in response to the new threats.
Gaza's Health Ministry reported that the strike on a tent camp for displaced Palestinians in a hospital courtyard killed one woman while injuring others.
Thousands have taken shelter at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah after being forced to flee their homes amid the ravaging war.
Several other strikes killed a girl and her parents while a home was flattened in Gaza, killing at least eight people, three of whom were children, along with their parents and grandmother.
Three people were killed in a strike on a vehicle in Gaza City, and another hit a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City on Saturday, killing at least 16 people and wounding another 21, said the hospital.
The Israeli military, which often accuses Palestinian militants of sheltering among civilians, claims it targeted a Palestinian militant in the strike, which resulted in secondary explosions, "indicating the presence of weaponry in the area."
Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service reported that the two people who died in Tel Aviv were a woman in her 70s and an 80-year-old man.
The police said the attack was executed by a Palestinian militant who was "neutralized," according to the Associated Press.
The wounded were reportedly found in three different locations, each roughly 500 yards apart.
Police initially sought other suspects, but later confirmed that only one person was involved.
Israel has been anticipating retaliation since the killings of a senior Hezbollah commander in Lebanon and a top Hamas political leader in an attack in Iran.
Hezbollah has consistently exchanged fire with Israel along the Lebanon border since the start of the war, revealing it aims to relieve the pressure on its fellow Iran-backed ally, Hamas.
