At least 25 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
Rescuers report that ten people, including a woman and a young girl, were killed when a ministry of religious endowments building in Gaza City’s eastern Zeitoun neighborhood was struck.
The Israeli military stated it had struck “Hamas terrorist targets” after alleged gunfire towards an area in the southern city of Khan Younis where its soldiers were operating, claiming a violation of the five-week-old ceasefire agreement.
Hamas has yet to issue an immediate response.
This resurgence of violence follows the UN Security Council’s passage of a resolution endorsing US President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan, aimed at ending two years of conflict.
Mahmoud Bassal, a spokesperson for Gaza’s Hamas-run Civil Defence agency, informed the BBC that Israeli air, drone, and artillery strikes impacted several locations in Gaza City and Khan Younis shortly after sunset on Wednesday.
He described the attacks as a significant escalation after days of relative calm.
The Civil Defence reported substantial damage to the religious endowments ministry building and surrounding structures in Zeitoun, releasing video footage appearing to show rescue workers discovering two individuals buried under rubble.
Photos published by Anadolu news agency purportedly depict the bodies of three young children recovered from the scene.
In a separate incident in Gaza City, Mr. Bassal stated that one person was killed and several others wounded when a drone struck a group at Shejaiya junction on Salah al-Din Street, Gaza’s main north-south thoroughfare.
He added that another individual was killed when a tank shell impacted a house belonging to the Balboul family in Shejaiya’s Mushtaha Street, also located in eastern Gaza City.
In Khan Younis, three fatalities and several injuries were reported following a strike on a group inside a sports club run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa), according to Mr. Bassal.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) issued a statement asserting that “several terrorists opened fire toward the area where IDF soldiers are operating in Khan Younis” earlier on Wednesday.
“This action constitutes a violation of the ceasefire agreement. No IDF injuries were reported,” the statement continued. “In response, the IDF began striking Hamas terrorist targets across the Gaza Strip.”
Israeli public broadcaster Kan cited a security source indicating that the targets of the strikes included the commander of the Zeitoun Battalion of Hamas’s military wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, and the commander of its naval force.
On Monday, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution aimed at reinforcing the fragile ceasefire, which had taken effect on 10 October.
Member states authorized the creation of a transitional governance body, the Board of Peace, to be chaired by President Trump, as well as a temporary International Stabilisation Force (ISF) tasked with ensuring “the process of demilitarizing the Gaza Strip”.
Trump hailed the resolution as “a moment of true historic proportion”.
A Hamas statement reiterated the group’s commitment to retaining its weapons until the establishment of a Palestinian state, asserting that its fight against Israel constituted legitimate “resistance”.
Israel’s ambassador to the UN emphasized the importance of disarmament, stating that his country would “not stop or let up” until Hamas no longer posed “a threat”.
The Israeli military initiated an offensive in Gaza following the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, which resulted in approximately 1,200 fatalities and the abduction of 251 individuals.
According to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry, at least 69,500 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, including 280 during the ceasefire.
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