Approximately 25 Palestinians lost their lives in four separate Israeli air raids on Wednesday in a region of Gaza controlled by Hamas following the ceasefire agreement in October, as reported by the local Health Ministry.
Health workers mentioned that 10 individuals perished in Zeitoun, a suburb of Gaza City, two in the eastern suburb of Shejaia, and the rest in two separate incidents in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.
Israeli military officials stated that their forces targeted Hamas sites throughout Gaza in response to the group’s aggression against Israeli troops, breaching the nearly six-week-old ceasefire. No Israeli soldiers were harmed during the strikes.
Hamas criticized the attacks as a dangerous escalation and called on the U.S. to pressure Israel to uphold the ceasefire and cease its assaults.
A U.S. official, speaking anonymously, accused Hamas of seeking to disrupt the ceasefire and failing to comply with the demilitarization agreement.
Kifah Mahmoud, aged 58, recounted the chaos when an airstrike hit the area where she and her orphaned grandchildren sought refuge in a camp near Khan Younis.
“Everyone was screaming … people were in pieces. Paramedics couldn’t figure out what [or who] to carry,” she recounted at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.
“We had no notice. We were just sitting in the tent, praying.”
Israel reopened the Zikim crossing in northern Gaza to allow more supplies into the territory this week, but aid groups say the aid that has come through isn’t adequate as winter and the rainy season approaches.
Recent incidents have highlighted the fragility of the ceasefire, with both Israel and Hamas accusing each other of violating the U.S.-brokered truce, a key component of President Donald Trump’s post-war Gaza initiative.
Health workers, witnesses, and media reports confirmed that the attacks extended well beyond the agreed-upon “yellow line” separating Israeli and Palestinian territories.
The assault in Zeitoun targeted a structure belonging to Muslim religious authorities, while the Khan Younis strike hit a United Nations-managed establishment hosting displaced families.
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