Israeli strikes in Gaza kill 25 Palestinians, health ministry says
The Hamas-run health ministry said at least 25 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip.
According to rescue teams, ten people, including a woman and a young girl, were killed when the Ministry of Endowments building in the eastern Zeytun district of Gaza City was hit.
The Israeli military said it hit “Hamas terrorist targets” after gunmen said they opened fire on the area where its soldiers were operating in the southern city of Khan Younis, in violation of a five-week ceasefire agreement.
There has been no statement from Hamas yet.
The flare-up in violence came after the UN Security Council adopted a resolution endorsing US President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan to end two years of devastating war.
Mahmoud Bassal, spokesman for Gaza’s Hamas-run Civil Defense agency, told the BBC that Israeli air, drone and artillery strikes hit several locations in Gaza City and Khan Younis shortly after sunset on Wednesday.
He said the attacks marked a sharp increase after several days of relative calm.
Civil Defense reported that the attack in Zeytun caused serious damage to the Ministry of Foundations building and surrounding structures, and released a video showing rescue teams finding two people under the rubble.
Meanwhile, in the photographs published by the Anadolu news agency, the bodies of three young children reportedly taken from the scene can be seen.
In a separate incident in Gaza City, one person was killed and several others were injured when a drone crashed into a group of people at the Shejaiya intersection on Salah al-Din Street, Gaza’s main north-south road, according to Mr. Bassal.
He said that another person lost his life as a result of a tank shell hitting a house belonging to the Balboul family on Mushtaha Street of Shecaiya, in the east of Gaza City.
It was stated that three people were killed and many people were injured in the attack on a group at a sports club managed by the UN Agency for Palestine Refugees (Unrwa) in Khan Younis.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement that early on Wednesday “several terrorists opened fire on the area where Israeli soldiers were operating in Khan Younis”.
The statement said, “This action constitutes a violation of the ceasefire agreement. No injuries were reported from the Israeli Armed Forces.” “In response, the IDF began striking Hamas terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip.”
Israeli public broadcaster Kan quoted a security source as saying that the targets of the attacks were the Zeitoun Battalion of Hamas’ military wing, the commander of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades and the commander of the naval force.
The UN Security Council on Monday adopted a resolution aimed at shoring up the fragile ceasefire that came into force on October 10.
Member states authorized the creation of an interim governing body called the Peace Board, to be chaired by President Trump, and an interim International Stabilization Force (ISF), which would be tasked with ensuring the “demilitarization process of the Gaza Strip.”
Trump praised the decision as “a truly historic moment.”
In the statement made by Hamas, it reiterated that the group would not give up its weapons without a Palestinian state, claiming that the fight against Israel was a legitimate “resistance”.
Israel’s UN ambassador stressed the importance of disarmament and said his country “will not stop or give up” as long as Hamas no longer poses a “threat”.
The Israeli army launched an attack on Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which approximately 1,200 people were killed and 251 people were taken hostage.
At least 69,500 people have since been killed in Israeli offensives in Gaza, according to the region’s Hamas-run health ministry; including 280 during the ceasefire.
