Israeli Airstrikes in Gaza Result in Over 20 Fatalities Amid Renewed Tensions

Share this @internewscast.com

Israeli airstrikes have killed more than 20 people in Gaza, Palestinian health authorities said, as Hamas and Israel again traded allegations of violating the fragile ceasefire in the enclave.

Saturday was one of the deadliest days since the US-brokered truce between Israel and Hamas came into effect last month, two years after Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza in response to Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel in 2023.

Witnesses and medics said the first attack hit a car in the densely populated Rimal neighbourhood in western Gaza City, setting it ablaze.

Dozens of people rushed to extinguish the fire and rescue the victims.

Shortly after the attack on the car, the Israeli air force carried out two separate airstrikes on two houses in Deir al-Balah city and Nuseirat camp, in the central Gaza Strip, killing at least 10 people and wounding several others, medics said.

An Israeli airstrike targeting a residence in western Gaza City resulted in the deaths of at least five Palestinians and left several others injured, according to medical sources. This incident contributed to the rising death toll on Saturday, with at least 20 casualties reported.

The ceasefire in the two-year Gaza war has eased the conflict, enabling hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to return to Gaza’s ruins.

Israel has pulled troops back from city positions, and aid flows have increased.

But Gaza health authorities say Israeli attacks have killed more than 310 Palestinians since the ceasefire came into effect on 10 October.

In the wake of these events, there have been calls for the international community to exert “immediate pressure” on Israel to halt what have been described as “massacres.” The pleas underscore the urgent need for intervention to prevent further loss of life.

Hamas said the “escalation” of Israeli violations was an attempt to “undermine the ceasefire”.

“We call on the mediators to intervene urgently and exert pressure to stop these violations immediately,” it said in a statement.

The Palestinian foreign ministry, based in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, also condemned the strikes.

Among the targets was a family home in Gaza City, illustrating the conflict’s devastating impact on civilians. The strikes come amid ongoing tensions, with Israel justifying its actions as a response to an armed individual who reportedly crossed the Yellow Line within the Gaza Strip and opened fire on Israeli soldiers.

Israeli attack hits a family home in Gaza City

This incident is part of a broader pattern of hostilities, as both Israel and Hamas have consistently accused one another of breaching the ceasefire that was intended to bring a respite from violence. The fragile truce remains under significant strain, with each side blaming the other for its breakdown.

The Israeli military said its strikes were in response to a gunman crossing the so-called Yellow Line within the Gaza Strip, behind which Israeli forces have withdrawn, and firing at Israeli soldiers.

The military said the gunman had exploited “the humanitarian road in the area through which humanitarian aid enters southern Gaza”, calling it a “blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement”.

A Hamas official in Gaza rejected the Israeli military’s allegations as baseless and an “excuse to kill”, saying the group was committed to the ceasefire agreement.

Israel and Hamas have repeatedly accused each other of violating the truce since it came into effect.

The war in Gaza began after Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people and seized 251 hostages in an attack on southern Israel on 7 October 7.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 69,700 Palestinians, health officials in Gaza say.

Under the terms of the truce, Hamas released all 20 living hostages held in Gaza in return for nearly 2,000 Palestinian detainees and prisoners held by Israel.

Hamas also agreed to hand over the remains of 28 dead hostages in exchange for the bodies of 360 Palestinian militants killed in the war.

The remains of 25 hostages have so far been handed over.

Israel has called on mediators to “insist that Hamas fulfil its side of the ceasefire” by returning the remaining three deceased hostages and completing its disarmament, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said.

Israel has returned 330 bodies of Palestinians, according to the territory’s health ministry.