At least 24 Palestinians, including two children, were killed in an Israeli attack on Gaza on Wednesday, according to health officials in the region, where a fragile ceasefire is under increasing pressure. Israel said it killed three militant leaders and others who posed a threat to its forces, and some of the strikes came in response to a Hamas attack that seriously wounded one of its soldiers.
Israeli soldiers opened fire on a building in the Tufah neighborhood of northern Gaza, killing at least 11 people, most of them from the same family, Shifa Hospital, which received the bodies, said. (AFP)Deadly Israeli attacks have repeatedly disrupted the ceasefire since it took effect on October 10. The growing number of Palestinians has prompted many in Gaza to say that the war seems to be going on endlessly.
At least five children, seven women and an on-duty paramedic were among the Palestinians killed Wednesday, according to hospital officials.
“Where is the ceasefire? Where are the mediators?” Dr. Mohammed Abu Selmia, director of Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, said in a Facebook post.
Deadly strikes continue despite ceasefire agreementThe cease-fire attempts to halt the more than 2-year-old war, which began on October 7, 2023, with a deadly attack by Hamas on Israel. Although the heaviest fighting has subsided, it has been marred by repeated flare-ups of violence.
According to Gaza health officials, a total of 556 Palestinians, half of them women and children, have been killed by Israel since the ceasefire took effect. Israel’s military says four of its soldiers have been killed since the ceasefire began.
Israel says its strikes are in response to Hamas ceasefire violations or militant attacks on its troops. Eight Arab and Muslim countries, including mediators Egypt and Qatar, recently condemned Israel’s “repeated violations” of the agreement.
An Israeli military official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with military policy, told The Associated Press that Israel’s latest strike was in response to a gunfight with militants that seriously wounded a reservist early Wednesday morning.
Eleven people including two children were killed in the early morning strikeIsraeli soldiers opened fire on a building in the Tufah neighborhood of northern Gaza, killing at least 11 people, most of them from the same family, Shifa Hospital, which received the bodies, said. The dead included the two parents, their 10-day-old daughter Wateen Khabbaj, her 5-month-old cousin, Meera Khabbaj, and the children’s grandmother.
The Israeli military said the attack was a real-time response to its soldiers firing on targets.
Mourners gathered at the premises of Shifa Hospital on Wednesday morning for the funeral prayers.
“What did this kid do?… Why is he beating the kids?” When asked, a relative of the family, Mohammad Jasser.
Two children were seen kneeling near their father’s body as a woman asked them to say goodbye to him. A young woman kissed the dead man on the cheek.
Attacks on Gaza continued on WednesdayAt least three people were killed and 10 wounded in an attack on a tent in the Muwasi area of Khan Younis, a field hospital run by the Palestinian Red Crescent in the area said. Among the dead was a paramedic who was on duty at the time, the hospital said.
The Israeli military said the strike targeted and killed Hamas platoon commander Bilal Abu Asi, who led the deadly attack on Kibbutz Nir Oz at the start of the 2023 war. It said it used surveillance, precision weapons and other means to avoid injuring the bystanders and “regrets the loss of civilians involved.”
Three people were killed in a separate attack in Khan Yunis.
Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies, said the dead, including a 12-year-old boy, were all killed in an attack on a family’s tent. An Israeli military official said the strike targeted three people who approached Israeli-controlled territory, posing an immediate danger to troops.
According to health officials at Shifa Hospital, another attack in Al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza City left one person dead and another injured. The Israeli military says it has killed the leader of a Hamas cell responsible for killing a soldier abducted from the Nahal Oz Observatory post during an October 2023 attack. It said the militants were targeted in response to overnight Hamas fire.
Israel said the third militant killed on Wednesday was an Islamic Jihad leader in northern Gaza.
At least 38 Palestinians were wounded in Wednesday’s attack, Gaza’s health ministry said.
Traffic through the Rafah border is minimalmonday The opening of the Ar Rafah border crossing was welcomed as a step forward for the fragile ceasefire. But since then, Palestinian passage through the crossing has been hampered by delays, interrogations and uncertainty over who will be allowed to cross. It took all day Tuesday for 40 Palestinians to enter Gaza.
On Wednesday, 15 patients and 31 of their relatives from Gaza were scheduled to go to Egypt, but more than half the group was turned away, Palestinian Red Crescent Society spokesman Raed al-Nims said. The North Sinai government confirmed that some had been allowed into Egypt, but did not provide figures. By evening it was not clear if any Palestinians had been allowed into Gaza, and the World Health Organization had not responded to a request for an update.
The ceasefire agreement is moving forwardAlthough not all fighting has stopped, some parts of the armistice have gone forward.
Hamas released all of the hostages and in return Israel released hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. An increased amount of humanitarian aid has flowed into Gaza and a new technocratic committee has been appointed to manage the territory’s day-to-day affairs.
The Red Cross said on Wednesday it had acted as mediator in the transfer of 54 Palestinian bodies returned to Gaza. Shifa Hospital said it received more than 60 boxes containing other remains. Forensic experts will begin work to identify remains in a region where thousands are missing, the Red Cross said.
Key elements of the ceasefire, including the deployment of international security forces, the disarmament of Hamas and the reconstruction of Gaza, appear to have stalled.
The war that began in the 2023 offensive saw thousands of Hamas-led militants pour into southern Israel after a surprise barrage of rockets, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 251 others.
More than 71,800 Palestinians have been killed since the war began, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians. The ministry, which is part of the Hamas-led government, maintains detailed casualty records that are generally seen as reliable by UN agencies and independent experts.
