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 has resulted in the deaths of at least five Palestinians and injuries to several others, according to medical sources. This incident has brought the total number of fatalities on Saturday to a minimum of 20.
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.
The occurrence has prompted calls from various quarters for the international community to exert “immediate pressure” on Israel to halt the ongoing violence.
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, highlighting the personal impact of the conflict. The incident was captured by photographers from Getty and Anadolu.
The Israeli military has stated that the airstrikes were a retaliatory measure after a gunman breached the so-called Yellow Line within the Gaza Strip, an area from which Israeli forces have withdrawn, and opened fire on Israeli soldiers.
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.
