Israel air strikes kill 20 people in Gaza Strip: medics
At least 20 people have been killed and more than 80 injured in Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, local health officials say, in another test of the fragile ceasefire between the Palestinian militant group Hamas and Israel.
Witnesses and medics said the first attack hit a car in Gaza City’s densely populated Rimal neighborhood and set the vehicle on fire.
It is not yet clear whether the five people who died were passengers in the vehicle or passersby.
Dozens of people mobilized to extinguish the fire and save the injured.
Shortly after the attack on the vehicle, the Israeli air force launched two separate air strikes on two houses in the city of Deir al-Balah and the Nuseyrat camp in the central Gaza Strip, killing at least five people and wounding many others, medics said.
🎯OPERATIONAL UPDATE:📍Rafah, GazaIDF troops identified and eliminated 3 terrorists, likely the same individuals who attempted to break out and hide from the underground terrorist infrastructure in Eastern Rafah yesterday.📍Northern GazaIn two separate incidents, the IDF eliminated 2 individuals…— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) November 22, 2025
A new Israeli airstrike on a house in western Gaza City later Saturday killed at least five Palestinians and injured others, bringing the day’s death toll to at least 20, medics said.
The Israeli military said a gunman crossed into Israeli-controlled territory in the Gaza Strip and exploited “the humanitarian route in the area through which humanitarian aid enters southern Gaza”, a “clear violation” of the ceasefire agreement.
The military said it struck targets in the area in response.
A Hamas official rejected the Israeli army’s claims and “pretext for killing”, saying the group was committed to the ceasefire agreement.
Israel and Hamas have repeatedly accused each other of violating a ceasefire signed more than six weeks ago.
Hamas said in a statement early Saturday that Israel’s “escalating violations” put the onus on mediators and the United States to confront it and preserve the ceasefire.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel also called on mediators to “insist that Hamas fulfills its part of the ceasefire” by returning the three dead hostages and completing disarmament.
The ceasefire declared on October 10 in the two-year-old Gaza Strip war eased the conflict, allowing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to return to the ruins of the region.
Israel withdrew its soldiers from urban positions and aid flows increased.
However, the violence has not stopped completely.
Hamas is trying to reassert itself, and some fear the de facto division of the region, where conditions are difficult.
Israeli forces have killed 316 people in attacks in the Gaza Strip since the ceasefire, Palestinian health officials said.
Israel says three of its soldiers have been killed and several other fighters have been attacked since the ceasefire began.
