IDF Jet Bombs Israeli Community Along Gaza Border, Blames "Malfunction"

An Israeli Air Force fighter jet dropped a bomb near an Israeli community on the Gaza border owing to a "technical malfunction".

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the munition was dropped near the southern Gaza border community of Nir Yitzhak, nearly two miles from the border, during an attempted airstrike. No injuries were reported.

"A short while ago, a munition fell from an IDF fighter jet that was on its way to a mission in the Gaza Strip. The munition landed in an open area near Nir Yitzhak due to a technical malfunction," the Israeli military said in a short statement.

According to Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics, Nir Yitzhak has a population of approximately 550 people.

This comes on a day Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a rare visit to Gaza, as the military pressed on with its air and ground assault against the Palestinian territory.

In northern Gaza, Netanyahu told troops, "They are striking the enemy and Hamas will continue to suffer blow after blow. We insist that they release our hostages, and we insist on achieving all of our war objectives."

The military resumed its offensive on Gaza on March 18, ending a two-month ceasefire with Hamas that had largely halted the fighting in the war-battered territory.

Since then, Israeli forces have seized large parts of the territory as hundreds of thousands of people fled from areas where the military intensified its assault.

Senior Israeli officials including Netanyahu have repeatedly said that only military pressure would force Hamas into releasing the remaining hostages held in Gaza.