DEIR BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli airstrikes in Gaza on Wednesday killed at least 21 Palestinians, including two infants, hospital officials said, further shaking a fragile ceasefire. Israel said it was responding to an armed attack by Israeli soldiers that seriously injured one Israeli soldier.
Since the truce came into effect on October 10, deadly Israeli attacks have repeatedly interrupted the Palestinian casualties, leaving many in Gaza feeling that the war continues unabated. The Palestinians killed on Wednesday included five children, seven women and a paramedic on duty, according to hospital officials.
“The genocidal war against the people of the Gaza Strip continues,” Dr. Mohammed Abu Selmiya, director of Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital, said in a Facebook post. “Where’s the ceasefire? Where’s the mediator?”
Israel strongly denies accusations that it is committing genocide in Gaza. The war began on October 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas-led militants poured into southern Israel after suddenly launching rockets, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 251 people.
Deadly strikes continue despite ceasefire
The deal seeks to end more than two years of war between Israel and Hamas. While the fiercest fighting has subsided, frequent outbreaks of violence have derailed the situation.
According to Gaza health officials, a total of 556 Palestinians have been killed and 1,500 wounded by Israel since the ceasefire came into effect, while the Israeli military said four Israeli soldiers were killed.
The Israeli military says its ongoing attacks are in response to Hamas violations or militant attacks on its soldiers, but dozens of civilians have been killed. Eight Arab and Muslim countries, including mediators Egypt and Qatar, recently condemned Israel’s “repeated violations” of the deal.
An Israeli military officer, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with military policy, told The Associated Press that Israel’s latest attack was in response to a militant shooting on Wednesday morning that seriously wounded a reservist.
Early morning strike kills 11 people, including two children
The Shifa hospital that received the bodies said Israeli forces opened fire on a building in the Tufa neighborhood of northern Gaza, killing at least 11 people, most of them from the same family. The dead included two parents, their 10-day-old daughter Wateen Khabbaz, her 5-month-old cousin Mira Khabbaz and the children’s grandmother.
Mourners gathered in the courtyard of Shifa Hospital on Wednesday morning for funeral prayers.
“What did this child do? … Why did they kill these children?” asked Mohammed Jaser, a relative of the family.
“We don’t understand why this is happening to us. What should we do? Where are we going? This is not life,” he said.
Two young children were seen kneeling next to their father’s body as a woman asked them to say goodbye. A young girl kissed her father on the cheek.
Attacks on Gaza continue into Wednesday afternoon
Later, an Israeli attack on a family’s tent in the southern city of Khan Younis killed three people, including a 12-year-old boy, the Nasser Hospital that received the bodies said.
At least two people were killed and five others were injured when a tent was attacked in the Khan Yunis al-Muwasi area, according to a field hospital run by the Palestinian Red Crescent Society in the area. The hospital said the dead included Hussein Hassan Hussein al-Semieri, a paramedic on duty at the time.
Gaza’s health ministry said a total of 38 Palestinians were injured in Wednesday’s attack.
There are few passages through the Rafah border
The opening of the Rafah crossing on Monday was hailed as a step forward in the fragile ceasefire. But since then, Palestinian passage through the crossing has been plagued by delays, interrogations and uncertainty about who can pass.
It took 40 Palestinians all day to enter Gaza on Tuesday. They finally arrived at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis around 1am on Wednesday, where they were greeted by family members. As of midday Wednesday, no one else had passed through the crossing.
Despite the lack of traffic, an EU official said the Rafah crossing remained open. EU delegation and Palestinian workers at the border crossing. The official, who is responsible for communications on behalf of the EU, spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to be named.
Three women who entered Gaza on Monday told The Associated Press a day later that Israeli forces blindfolded them, handcuffed them, then interrogated and threatened them, holding them for hours before releasing them.
EU officials said the border mission was not aware of cases where luggage was confiscated or mistreated by Israeli soldiers or Palestinians at the border.
Asked about the reports, the Israeli military said, “There have been no incidents of misconduct, ill-treatment, arrests or confiscation of property by Israeli security agencies.”
Progress on ceasefire agreement slow
Although all fighting has not stopped, progress has been made on some parts of the ceasefire agreement.
Hamas released all the hostages it had held, and in return, Israel released thousands of Palestinians and began reopening Rafah. Increasing amounts of humanitarian aid are flowing into Gaza, and a new committee of technical experts has been appointed to manage the territory’s day-to-day affairs.
But other key elements of the ceasefire appear to have stalled, including the deployment of international security forces, the disarmament of Hamas and the reconstruction of Gaza. The United States has given no timetable for when those parts of the deal will be completed.
More than 71,800 Palestinians have been killed since the war began, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which does not distinguish between fighters and civilians. The ministry, which is part of the Hamas-led government, keeps detailed casualty records that U.N. agencies and independent experts consider generally reliable.
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Magdi reported from Cairo and Frankel reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writer Sam McNeil contributed from Brussels.
