Israel’s military conducted a series of airstrikes that killed at least 25 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip after its forces came under fire, a fresh flare-up testing an already-fragile truce in the coastal enclave.
The first of the multi-phased ceasefire deal saw Hamas release all 20 living Israeli hostages and later handing over most of the hostage remains and bodies.(Reuters)
The strikes in Gaza City and southern areas of the strip are the second deadliest wave of Israeli attacks in the territory since the US-backed ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed Hamas took effect on Oct. 10.
Militants in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis had earlier in the day opened fire at Israeli soldiers, none of whom were injured, the Israel Defense Forces said. “In response, the IDF began striking Hamas terrorist targets across the Gaza Strip,” it said in a statement.
In late October, the Israeli army killed over 100 people in Gaza after conducting strikes in retaliation for the killing of an Israeli soldier and Hamas’s failure to return the bodies of dead hostages within the agreed timeline.
Iran-backed Hamas, designated by the US and the European Union as a terrorist organization, said in a statement more than 300 have been killed since the Gaza ceasefire came in effect. It called on the US as well as Turkey, Egypt and Qatar — which mediated the truce — to ensure that Israel observes the peace agreement.
The latest surge in violence came two days after the United Nations Security Council voted in favor of a US-draft resolution based on US President Donald Trump’s 20-article peace plan for Gaza.
Trump’s plan, which envisions the disarming of Hamas in the next phase and establishing an International Stabilization Force, was rejected by Hamas and several Palestinian factions, though the group initially accepted the plan that led to a pause in the two-year war.
The first of the multi-phased ceasefire deal saw Hamas release all 20 living Israeli hostages and later handing over most of the hostage remains and bodies. The militant group still holds three hostage bodies, saying it needs equipment and machinery to allocate and retrieve them.
The conflict started when Hamas attacked Israeli territories, killed 1,200 and abducted 250 in October 2023. Israel’s retaliatory campaign killed more than 69,000 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza.
On Tuesday, an Israeli airstrike killed 13 people in Lebanon’s largest Palestinian refugee camp, which the IDF said targeted a training compound affiliated with Hamas in the southern Lebanese city of Sidon.
In south Lebanon, the Israeli army has mostly been striking facilities and personnel of Hezbollah, also supported by Iran. The Lebanese militia attacked Israel to back its ally Hamas, starting a war with the Jewish state followed by a US- and French-backed ceasefire late last year.
Israel says the post-truce attacks in Lebanon, which fuel concerns that the regional conflict might be reignited, aim to prevent Hezbollah from rebuilding its capabilities after it lost much of its military might during the war. On Wednesday, the IDF struck several weapons storage facilities belonging to the Lebanese group in southern Lebanon.