DEIR EL-BALAH – On Saturday, the Israeli military conducted airstrikes targeting Hamas positions in Gaza, marking a significant challenge to the ceasefire that commenced on October 10. According to the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, these strikes resulted in the deaths of five senior Hamas members. Health officials in Gaza reported that the airstrikes claimed the lives of at least 24 individuals and left 54 others injured, including children.

This latest escalation coincided with rising international focus on the situation in Gaza. On Monday, the United Nations Security Council approved a U.S.-led initiative aimed at stabilizing and governing the region. This plan includes the deployment of an international stabilization force to maintain security and the establishment of a transitional authority under the oversight of U.S. President Donald Trump, with the long-term goal of paving the way for a potential independent Palestinian state.

Israel has conducted similar airstrikes in the past following reported violations of the ceasefire by Palestinian forces. Earlier in the week, health officials reported that a 12-hour period between Wednesday and Thursday saw the deaths of 33 Palestinians, most of whom were women and children.

One of the strikes on Saturday targeted a vehicle in the Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City, resulting in the deaths of 11 people and injuring more than 20 others, according to Rami Mhanna, the managing director of Shifa Hospital. Mohamed Abu Selmiya, the hospital director, noted that the majority of those injured were children.

Footage from the Associated Press captured the aftermath, showing children and others examining the charred remains of the vehicle, which had its top completely destroyed.

A strike targeting a house near Al-Awda Hospital in central Gaza killed at least three people and wounded 11 others, according to the hospital. It said a strike on a house in Nuseirat camp in central Gaza killed at least seven people including a child and wounded 16 others.

Another strike, targeting a house in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, killed three people, including a woman, according to Al-Aqsa Hospital.

“Suddenly, I heard a powerful explosion. I looked outside and saw smoke covering the entire area. I couldn’t see a thing. I covered my ears and started shouting to the others in the tent to run,” said Khalil Abu Hatab in Deir al-Balah. “When I looked again, I realized the upper floor of my neighbor’s house was gone.”

He added: “It’s a fragile ceasefire. This is not a life we can live. There’s no safe place.”

Israel’s military in a statement said it launched attacks against Hamas after an “armed terrorist” crossed into an Israeli-held area and shot at troops in southern Gaza. It said no soldiers were hurt. The military said the person had used a road on which humanitarian aid enters the territory, and called it an “extreme violation” of the ceasefire.

In separate statements, the military said soldiers killed five “terrorists” in the Rafah area, and two others after firing at four people who crossed into Israeli-held areas in northern Gaza and advanced toward soldiers in two separate incidents.

The war began with the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that killed some 1,200 people and took over 250 hostage. Almost all of the hostages or their remains have been returned in ceasefires or other deals.

Gaza’s Health Ministry says 69,733 Palestinians have been killed and 170,863 injured in Israel’s retaliatory offensive. The toll has gone up during the ceasefire both from new Israeli strikes and from the recovery and identification of bodies of people killed earlier in the war.

The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its figures but has said women and children make up a majority of those killed. The ministry, part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals, maintains detailed records viewed as generally reliable by independent experts.

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Find more of AP’s Israel-Hamas coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war