Hospital officials report women and children among the dead as Israel says strikes followed a militant assault that wounded a reservist.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Israeli airstrikes struck multiple locations across Gaza on Wednesday, killing at least 21 Palestinians, including women, children and two infants, according to hospital officials, further straining a fragile ceasefire that took effect in October.
Israeli officials said the strikes were launched in response to a militant attack that seriously wounded an Israeli soldier. An Israeli military official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with military policy, told the Associated Press that the latest attacks followed terrorist gunfire that badly wounded a reservist earlier Wednesday.
Hospital officials in Gaza said the casualties included five children, seven women and an on-duty paramedic. The deaths added to a growing toll since the ceasefire began on Oct. 10.
“The genocidal war against our people in the Gaza Strip continues,” said Mohamed Abu Selmiya, director of Shifa Hospital, in a Facebook post. “Where is the ceasefire? Where are the mediators?”
Israel has repeatedly rejected accusations of genocide. The current war began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants launched a surprise attack on southern Israel, killing 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and abducting 251.
The ceasefire was intended to halt more than two years of fighting between Hamas and Israel. While large-scale combat has eased, the truce has been repeatedly disrupted by airstrikes and militant attacks.
Gaza health officials said that since the ceasefire went into effect, 556 Palestinians have been killed and more than 1,500 wounded. Israel’s military has reported that four Israeli soldiers have been killed during the same period.
Eight Arab and Muslim countries, including mediators Egypt and Qatar, have recently condemned what they described as Israel’s “repeated violations” of the agreement.
One of the deadliest strikes on Wednesday hit a building in the Tuffah neighborhood of northern Gaza. Shifa Hospital said at least 11 people were killed, most from a single family. Those killed included two parents, a 10-day-old infant named Wateen Khabbaz, her 5-month-old cousin Mira Khabbaz and their grandmother.
Mourners gathered at Shifa Hospital for funeral prayers. “What did this child do? Why are they killing the children?” asked Mohammad Jaser, a relative of the family. “We don’t understand why this is happening to us. What do we do? Where do we go? This isn’t life.”
Additional strikes hit southern Gaza. In Khan Younis, an airstrike on a family tent killed three people, including a 12-year-old boy, according to Nasser Hospital. Another strike in the Muwasi area of Khan Younis killed at least two people and wounded five others, a field hospital run by the Palestinian Red Crescent said. The dead included Hussein Hassan Hussein al-Semieri, a paramedic who was on duty at the time.
The Gaza health ministry said 38 Palestinians were wounded in total by Wednesday’s strikes.
The violence came days after the reopening of the Rafah border crossing, which had been hailed as a positive step for the ceasefire. Palestinian movement through the crossing, however, has been slow and marked by delays and uncertainty. On Tuesday, it took an entire day for 40 Palestinians to enter Gaza. By midday Wednesday, no additional crossings had occurred.
A European Union official said the crossing remained open, with EU monitors and Palestinian staff present. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
Three women who crossed into Gaza on Monday told the Associated Press that Israeli troops blindfolded and handcuffed them, interrogated and threatened them, and held them for several hours before release. The Israeli military said it was not aware of “any incidents of inappropriate conduct, mistreatment, apprehensions, or confiscation of property.”
Despite ongoing violence, parts of the ceasefire agreement have moved forward. Hamas has released all hostages it held, while Israel has freed several thousand Palestinian detainees and begun reopening Rafah. Humanitarian aid deliveries have increased, and a new technocratic committee has been appointed to manage Gaza’s daily affairs.
Other key provisions of the agreement, including the deployment of an international security force, Hamas disarmament and Gaza’s reconstruction, remain stalled. The United States has not provided a timeline for those steps.
Since the war began, more than 71,800 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Gaza health ministry. The ministry does not distinguish between fighters and civilians but maintains casualty records that are considered generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts.
Original article
Comments