Palestinians inspect the damage to a house targeted by an Israeli strike in Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, Saturday (AP photo)
Israel launched airstrikes on Hamas targets in Gaza on Saturday, raising questions on the fragile ceasefire that began on October 10. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said five senior Hamas members were killed. Gaza health officials reported 24 deaths and 54 injuries, including children, as reported by Associated Press. The strikes followed reported gunfire at Israeli troops and came shortly after the UN Security Council approved a US-backed plan for Gaza’s security and governance. The plan authorises an international stabilisation force, sets up a transitional authority overseen by President Donald Trump, and outlines a possible path to Palestinian statehood. Israel has carried out similar strikes after previous alleged ceasefire violations. Health officials said 33 Palestinians, mostly women and children, were killed over a 12-hour period between Wednesday and Thursday. In Gaza City’s Rimal neighbourhood, a vehicle strike killed 11 people and injured more than 20, according to Shifa Hospital’s managing director Rami Mhanna. Hospital director Mohamed Abu Selmiya said most of the injured were children. Other strikes caused casualties near Al-Awda Hospital, where three people died and 11 were injured; in Nuseirat camp, where seven people including a child were killed and 16 were wounded; and in Deir al-Balah, where three people including a woman were killed. Israel’s military said the attacks targeted militants after an armed individual entered Israeli-controlled territory and fired at troops in southern Gaza. The military said it killed 11 “terrorists” in Rafah, detained six others, and shot two people who crossed into Israeli-held areas in the north. The conflict began after Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages. Gaza’s Health Ministry says 69,733 Palestinians have been killed and 170,863 wounded in Israel’s counter-offensive. The ministry’s figures, compiled by medical personnel in the Hamas-run government, are regarded as credible by independent experts.
