Israeli army chief warns of 'reasonable' chance of fresh Gaza attack

The Israeli army's Chief of the General Staff Aviv Kochavi has said that there is a "reasonable" chance of another attack on the besieged Gaza Strip.

Kochavi reportedly informed US National Security Advisor Jack Sullivan of this during his trip to Washington, according to Israeli public broadcaster Kan.

The army leader's US trip was aimed, in part, to raise the issue of restocking spent military equipment with top officials from Joe Biden's administration, The New Arab's Arabic-language service reported.

Tel Aviv expended significant military resources in its deadly 11-day bombing campaign against Gaza last month, as Hamas and other militants in the besieged Palestinian enclave fired rockets at Israel.

This includes rockets fired by Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system.

Sources in Israel told the Hebrew-language Walla outlet that an escalation could happen, referencing appeals by Gaza groups for Palestinians to come to the border fence on Friday.

There, they are to protest the Israeli siege of the Gaza Strip, which has been in place since 2006.

Walla also reported that insiders with Israel's security apparatus suggested Gaza-based Islamist group Hamas would be slow to launch rockets.

The website added that Benny Gantz, Tel Aviv's defence minister, is to lead a security meeting on Friday with top military officials.

This is to include the chief of the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) unit, Ghassan Alian.

Israel's bombardment of Gaza killed some 260 Palestinians, including dozens of children, according to Palestinian authorities. A fragile ceasefire that ended Israel's 11-day onslaught came into place on May 21.