At least 32 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli airstrikes across Gaza in the latest escalation in violence since a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health said 12 children and eight women were among those killed in the strike, which lasted from Wednesday until Thursday morning, and another 88 people were injured.
The Israel Defense Forces said it carried out an attack on a Hamas target after “several terrorists” opened fire on Israeli soldiers operating in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza. “This action constitutes a violation of the ceasefire agreement,” the IDF said, adding that no troops were injured.
Hamas has rejected the IDF’s explanation, calling the attack a “dangerous escalation” and accusing Israel of trying to “justify ongoing crimes and violations.” The statement called on the United States to apply “immediate and serious pressure” on Israel to “respect the ceasefire and cease its aggression against our people.”
The latest attack brings the total number of Palestinian deaths since the ceasefire took effect to 312.
The announcement came days after the United Nations Security Council approved US President Donald Trump’s plan for how to move beyond a fragile ceasefire to a more sustainable peace and rebuilding the devastated enclave.
Meanwhile, in a separate development, Israel also carried out airstrikes on what it claims are Hezbollah weapons storage sites in southern Lebanon.
The attacks in Gaza are the third major escalation since a cease-fire agreement took effect in October, each time preceded by attacks on Israeli soldiers.
In two previous escalations, on October 19 and 28, approximately 150 Palestinians and three Israeli soldiers were killed.
However, despite this escalation, the ceasefire has largely remained in place.
CNN footage from Gaza City’s al-Ahli Baptist Hospital complex on Wednesday shows dozens of people crowding around an ambulance carrying victims of the attack.
Footage showed several people sitting next to the body inside the hospital, some peering into the body bag in despair. One of the body bags contained the dusty, lifeless bodies of three children.
Wednesday’s deadliest attack was in eastern Gaza’s Zaytun district, killing 10 people, including women and children, the Gaza Civil Defense Authority said.
The Civil Defense added that another attack targeting “a group of civilians within the UNRWA club” hit an area west of Khan Yunis.
UNRWA is the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.
Israel launched a war in Gaza after Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages in an October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. More than 69,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed since then, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.
As part of the first phase of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire framework, Hamas agreed to release all remaining hostages, living and dead, in Gaza, while Israel agreed to withdraw from some areas of Gaza and release some Palestinian prisoners. Hamas later released the bodies of all living hostages and all but three of the dead hostages.
The attack in Gaza came a day after 13 people were killed in an Israeli attack on a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health. The IDF said Tuesday’s attack targeted a “Hamas training facility” that was being used to “plan and carry out terrorist attacks against the IDF and the state of Israel.”
On Wednesday, Israel carried out further attacks in southern Lebanon, targeting “several weapons storage facilities belonging to Hezbollah’s rocket forces.” Lebanese state news agency said no one was killed or injured in the attack, but several houses were damaged.
For more than two years, Israel has been carrying out attacks in Lebanon targeting Hezbollah militants and various Palestinian armed groups. These further escalated after the October 7 attacks, when the Iranian-backed Hezbollah launched attacks on Israel in support of Hamas. The attack took place despite a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah that took effect in November 2024.
CNN’s Heather’s Law contributed to this report.
