At least 20 Palestinians, including several children and a paramedic, were killed in Israeli strikes across Gaza on Wednesday, according to hospital officials, in one of the deadliest episodes since a fragile ceasefire came into force three months ago.
Almost 40 others were wounded, medical sources said, after air and tank strikes hit residential areas and tents sheltering displaced families in both northern and southern parts of the territory.
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The Israeli military said its forces carried out what it described as precise strikes after fighters opened fire on Israeli troops in northern Gaza, seriously wounding an officer. It said the shooting took place close to the Yellow Line, a boundary beyond which Israeli forces are deployed inside Gaza, and called it a blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement with Hamas.
Hamas rejected that account, accusing Israel of using the incident as a pretext to continue military operations.
“This is a flimsy excuse to justify the continuation of killing and aggression against our people,” the group said in a statement.
Hospitals across Gaza reported heavy casualties. Al Shifa hospital in Gaza City said it received the bodies of 13 people, including five children, killed when strikes hit homes and tents for displaced families in the eastern Zeitoun and Tuffah neighbourhoods.
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In the hospital courtyard, mourners gathered for funeral prayers. Abu Mohammed Haboush said his family had been asleep when their home was shelled.
“Our children were martyred. My son was martyred. My brother’s son and daughter were martyred,” he told Reuters. “We have nothing to do with anything. We are peaceful people.”
Further south, Nasser hospital in Khan Younis said four people, including a child, were killed in strikes on tents in the Qizan Rashwan area. Hospital officials later confirmed that two sisters, Rahaf and Remas Abu Jamea, as well as a paramedic, Hussein al Samiri, were killed in the coastal al Mawasi area west of the city.
A first responder with the Hamas run Civil Defence agency, Jihad al Hinnawi, said the paramedic had rushed to assist victims after an initial strike on a tent, only to be killed by a second strike on the same location.
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When asked for comment, an Israeli military source confirmed that strikes were carried out in Gaza on Wednesday in response to the shooting that wounded the Israeli officer.
The latest violence comes amid growing tension over the ceasefire, which took effect on 10 October. Both Israel and Hamas have accused each other of near daily violations since then.
On Sunday, more than 30 people were killed in Israeli strikes across Gaza. The Israeli military said those attacks followed an incident in which gunmen emerged from a tunnel in the southern Rafah area, again beyond the Yellow Line.
Gaza Hamas run health ministry says at least 556 people have been killed by Israeli fire since the ceasefire began. The Israeli military says four of its soldiers have been killed in Palestinian attacks during the same period.
