Israel has launched a series of deadly airstrikes targeting central and southern Gaza after accusing Hamas of attacking its soldiers — a claim Hamas has dismissed as false and baseless.
The renewed bombardments came despite a ceasefire deal, drawing condemnation from Gaza’s civil defence agency, which reported at least 21 people killed, including civilians sheltering in a school, according to Al Jazeera.
The Israeli military, however, claimed its strikes were in response to “hostile fire” from Hamas fighters near Rafah.
Officials in Gaza said the latest escalation left dozens wounded, while Israel’s army has been accused of committing at least 47 ceasefire violations since the truce came into effect in early October, resulting in 35 deaths and 146 injuries.
At least 13 people were killed on Sunday as Israel resumed its airstrikes on Gaza, medical and local sources confirmed. The new wave of attacks struck central Gaza, including the area around Yahya al-Mabhouh, commander of Hamas’s elite Jabalia Battalion.
A doctor at Al-Aqsa Hospital said nine bodies and several injured people were brought in after strikes hit a seaside café in al-Zawaida and a building in the Nusirat refugee camp.
According to the BBC, the escalation began just hours after Israeli warplanes bombed targets in Rafah following clashes between Hamas fighters and a pro-Israeli militia operating behind the “yellow line,” an area under Israeli military control. Both sides blamed each other for violating the ceasefire.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) alleged that Hamas “fired an anti-tank missile and gunfire toward IDF troops” near Rafah, while Hamas insisted it had adhered to the truce, accusing Israel of fabricating “pretexts” to justify new strikes.
Later on Sunday, the Israeli military said it had launched retaliatory strikes in Rafah and Beit Lahia, warning that “there is a possibility of more strikes.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directed security forces to take “strong action against terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip,” accusing Hamas of breaching the agreement.
Defence Minister Israel Katz added that the group would “pay a heavy price for every shot and every breach of the ceasefire,” vowing that Israel’s response would “become increasingly severe.”
The renewed violence followed a ceasefire deal brokered earlier this month after U.S. President Donald Trump, alongside the leaders of Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey, signed a declaration in Sharm el-Sheikh aimed at restoring peace in Gaza. The ceasefire, which began on October 10 under the first phase of Trump’s 20-point peace plan, has since been undermined by fresh hostilities.
Israel’s war on Gaza, which began after the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack that killed about 1,200 people and saw over 200 others taken hostage, has now killed at least 68,159 Palestinians and wounded 170,203, according to Gaza health officials.
