Saturday’s attack happened on the Palestinian-controlled side of the so-called Yellow Line which has divided Gaza since an unstable US-led ceasefire came into effect on 10 October.
Israeli forces control the area to the east of the line, which includes just over half of the Gaza Strip.
The first phase of US president Donald Trump’s 20-point plan for peace in the region required the return of all 20 living and 28 dead hostages taken in the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023.
About 1,200 people were killed in the attack and more than 250 people were taken hostage.
All have been returned except for the remains of an Israeli police officer, Ran Gvili, 24, who is believed to have been killed while fighting Hamas gunmen in Kibbutz Alumim.
Since then, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry more than 70,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli military action.
The diplomatic focus is now shifting to the next stage of President Trump’s plan which would require the disarmament of Hamas as part of what it calls the de-radicalisation and redevelopment of Gaza.
It envisages Gaza being run by the “temporary transitional governance of a technocratic, apolitical Palestinian committee,” overseen by a “Board of Peace” chaired by Trump.
Security would be provided by an International Stabilisation Force although its make up remains unclear.
The eventual aim is for a reformed Palestinian Authority to take control of the territory, and for Israeli forces to withdraw, after which “the conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood”.
Many aspects of the plan are controversial in Israel where prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly rejected calls for the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Trump is due to meet Netanyahu to discuss the plan in the US on 29 December.