DHAKA: Israel prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Palestinian civilians on Sunday to leave immediately any site where militants are operating, one day after Israel took the Gaza war to a new level by flattening a 13-storey apartment tower.

Israeli aircraft first fired a non-explosive rocket at the building, a sign to residents to get out, before attacking it on Saturday.

Seventeen people were wounded in the strike on the structure, which Israel said had housed a Hamas command centre.

‘I call on the inhabitants of Gaza to evacuate immediately from every site from which Hamas is carrying out terrorist activity. Every one of these places is a target for us,’ Netanyahu said in public remarks at a cabinet meeting, reports The Straits Times.

With no end in sight to fighting now in its seventh week, Netanyahu’s tough talk could indicate a move towards bolder strikes in densely populated neighbourhoods, even at the risk of raising more international alarm.

BDST: 1945 HRS, AUG 24, 2014