New Israeli bombardment comes on the verge of a U.S. deadline for Israel to ramp up humanitarian aid allowed into Gaza or risk restrictions on military aid.

Residents said Israeli forces besieged shelters housing displaced families and the remaining population, which some estimated at a few thousand, ordering them to head south through a checkpoint separating two towns and a refugee camp in the north from Gaza City.

Israel said its forces had returned to northern Gaza to fight a Hamas resurgence. That has brought a new round of suffering for residents.