A huge plume of smoke was seen rising over the Gaza Strip on Tuesday (April 23) as airplanes dropped humanitarian aid parcels into the embattled enclave.

Israel bombarded northern Gaza overnight in some of the heaviest shelling in weeks, panicking residents and flattening neighbourhoods in an area where the Israeli army had previously drawn down its troops, residents said on Tuesday.

Tanks made a new incursion east of Beit Hanoun on the northern edge of the Gaza Strip, though they did not penetrate far into the city, residents and Hamas media said. Gunfire reached some schools where displaced residents were sheltering.

Thick black smoke could be seen rising in northern Gaza from across the southern Israeli border. 

Shelling was intense east of Beit Hanoun and Jabalia and continued on Tuesday morning in areas such as Zeitoun, one of Gaza City's oldest suburbs, with residents reporting at least 10 strikes in a matter of seconds along the main road. - report from Reuters