Gaza City – Israeli air adn artillery strikes across the Gaza Strip on Wednesday evening resulted in the deaths of at least 25 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, marking a significant escalation after several days of relative calm. The attacks targeted locations in Gaza City and Khan Younis.
According to a spokesperson for Hamas’s Civil Defense agency,strikes hit several locations shortly after sunset. In Gaza City’s zeitoun neighborhood, a strike caused severe damage to the religious endowments ministry building and surrounding structures.Rescue workers recovered two peopel from the rubble, and photos published by the Anadolu news agency showed the bodies of three young children reportedly recovered from the same scene.
Further incidents in Gaza City saw one person killed and several wounded when a drone struck a group of people at the Shejaiya junction on Salah al-Din Street, Gaza’s main north-south road. Another individual was killed when a tank shell struck a house belonging to the Balboul family in Shejaiya’s mushtaha Street.
In Khan Younis, three people were killed and an unspecified number wounded in a strike on a group inside a sports club run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa).
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) stated that “several terrorists opened fire toward the area where IDF soldiers are operating in Khan Younis” earlier on Wednesday, constituting a violation of the ceasefire agreement. “No IDF injuries were reported,” the IDF added, stating that in response, they began striking Hamas terrorist targets across the Gaza Strip.
Israeli public broadcaster Kan reported, citing a security source, that the targets included the commander of the Zeitoun battalion of Hamas’s military wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, and the commander of it’s naval force.
The strikes come after the UN Security Council passed a resolution on Monday seeking to reinforce the ceasefire, which initially took effect on October 10th.The resolution authorized the creation of a Board of Peace,chaired by former President Trump,and a temporary International Stabilisation Force (ISF) tasked with demilitarizing the Gaza Strip.
President Trump hailed the resolution as “a moment of true historic proportion.” However, Hamas reiterated its position that it would not disarm without the establishment of a Palestinian state, framing its actions as legitimate “resistance.” Israel’s ambassador to the UN emphasized the importance of disarmament, stating Israel would continue its efforts until Hamas no longer posed a threat.
The current conflict began following the Hamas-led attack on southern israel on October 7, 2023, which resulted in approximately 1,200 deaths and the abduction of 251 hostages. Since then, at least 69,500 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza, including 280 during the ceasefire period, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
