Israeli military jets early Tuesday struck the house of Ismail Haniya, deputy chief of the Islamist Hamas movement, in western Gaza City, local media and witnesses said.

No injuries were reported and neither Haniya nor his family were at home when it was destroyed by the missiles, Hamas’ al-Aqsa television reported.

Airstrikes on central and southern areas of the Gaza Strip killed at least 16 Palestinians and wounded more than 50 others early Tuesday, medics and witnesses said.

Nine Palestinians were killed in a pre-dawn airstrike on a house in the refugee camp of al-Bureij, Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qedra said.

Seven members of one family were killed when their house was hit in the southern town of Rafah, he said.

Israeli jets, tanks and battleships intensified their strikes on various areas of the salient, mainly on Gaza City, according to security officials. Flyers were dropped on the City and flares lit up the night sky.

Sirens sounded in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv for the first time since Friday, with explosions heard on the outskirts, Israeli media reported.

There were no reports of damage from rocket attacks.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he was concerned about reports that Israeli leaflets being dropped from planes were warning residents to move to Gaza City.

Moving away from their homes would cause more suffering for the Palestinians, Ban said, adding that UN organizations did not have the resources to support a large influx of people.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called late on Monday night for an end “to the massacres that are committed against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.” “This awful and ugly aggression on our people in Gaza must end soon,” he said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Israelis on Monday to prepare for a “lengthy campaign” in Gaza. He said the military would press on with operations against Palestinian militants firing rockets from the coastal enclave.

Over 1,100 Palestinians, mostly civilians and including more than 200 children, are estimated to have been killed in the fighting.

Forty-eight Israeli soldiers have been killed, as well as two Israeli civilians and a Thai national.

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