At least 104 Palestinians were killed in a wave of Israeli strikes in Gaza on Tuesday night, the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry says.
The Israeli military said it struck “dozens of terror targets and terrorists” in response to violations by Hamas of the US-brokered ceasefire deal.
Israel’s defence minister accused Hamas of an attack in Gaza that killed an Israeli soldier, and of breaching the terms on returning deceased hostages’ bodies. Hamas said it had “no connection” to the attack and was committed to the deal.
US President Donald Trump maintained “nothing” would jeopardise the ceasefire, but added that Israel should “hit back” when its soldiers were targeted.
The Israeli strikes hit homes, schools and residential blocks in Gaza City and Beit Lahia in the north of Gaza, Bureij and Nuseirat in the centre, and Khan Younis in the south.
Witnesses in Gaza City described seeing “pillars of fire and smoke” rising into the air as explosions shook several residential areas.
Gaza’s health ministry said a total of 104 people were killed, including 46 children and 20 women, and that more than 250 others were injured.
Three women and a man who were pulled from the rubble of the al-Banna family’s home in the southern Sabra neighbourhood of Gaza City, according to the Hamas-run Civil Defence agency.
In the urban Bureij refugee camp, five members of the Abu Sharar family were killed in a strike on their home in the Block 7 area, it said.
Another five people were killed when aircraft targeted a vehicle on a road north-west of Khan Younis, the agency added.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Wednesday morning that it had “begun the renewed enforcement of the ceasefire” after carrying out a series of strikes on what it described as “dozens of terror targets and terrorists”, including at least 30 commanders of armed groups.
“The IDF will continue to uphold the ceasefire agreement and will respond firmly to any violation of it,” it added.
A brief statement put out by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office on Tuesday evening said he had ordered the IDF to carry out “forceful strikes” on Gaza but did not specify his reasons.
However, his defence minister said Hamas had crossed “a bright red line” by launching an attack on Israeli soldiers in Gaza on Tuesday.
“Hamas will pay many times over for attacking the soldiers and for violating the agreement to return the fallen hostages,” Israel Katz warned.
