Israel’s attacks on Gaza kill at least 30 Palestinians, one of the highest tolls since ceasefire began

At least 30 Palestinians, including women and children, were killed by Israeli attacks in Loophospital officials said, marking one of the highest death tolls since a cease-fire It started in October.

The strikes, which came a day after Israel accused Hamas of new ceasefire violations, hit multiple locations across Gaza, including an apartment building in Gaza City and a tent camp in Khan Younis, officials at the hospitals that received the bodies told the News. An airstrike also hit a police station in Gaza City, killing at least 14 people and wounding others, Shifa Hospital director Mahamed Abu Selmiya said.

The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement that the attacks were in response to what they said was a violation of the ceasefire agreement by Hamas after the army killed at least four terrorists emerging from a tunnel in an Israeli-controlled area of ​​Rafah.

“Terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip systematically violate international law, brutally exploiting civilian infrastructure and the population of Gaza as human shields for terrorist activities,” the Israeli military said, adding that it will continue to act against any violation of the ceasefire agreement.

Nasser Hospital said the attack on the camp caused a fire that killed seven people, including a father, his three children and three grandchildren. Meanwhile, Shifa Hospital said the attack on an apartment building in Gaza City killed three children, their aunt and grandmother on Saturday morning, while the attack on the police station killed at least 14: officers, including four female police officers, civilians and inmates detained at the police station. The hospital also said a man was killed in an attack Saturday on the eastern side of the Jabaliya refugee camp.

Hamas called Saturday’s attacks “a renewed flagrant violation” and urged the United States and other mediating countries to pressure Israel to stop the attacks.

Saturday’s attacks are a reminder that the death toll in Gaza continues to rise even as the ceasefire agreement inches forward.

The Israeli army, which has attacked targets in both sides of the ceasefire dividing linesaid its attacks since October have been responses to violations of the agreement.

The death toll reported on Saturday was several times higher than the daily average since the ceasefire began. As of Friday, Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry had recorded at least 520 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire since the start of the ceasefire on October 10. The ministry maintains detailed records of victims that are generally considered reliable by UN agencies and independent experts.

Saturday’s attacks also came a day before the Rafah crossing along the border with Egypt opens in the southernmost city of Gaza. All border crossings in the territory have been closed for almost the entire war. Palestinians see Rafah as a lifeline for the tens of thousands of people who need treatment outside the territory, where much of the medical infrastructure has been destroyed.

The opening of the crossing, limited at first, marks the first major step in the second phase of the US-brokered ceasefire. The reopening of borders is one of the challenging issues on the agenda for the phase now underway, which also includes the demilitarization of the strip after almost two decades of Hamas rule and the installation of a new government to oversee reconstruction.