Israeli air strikes kill 25 Palestinians in Gaza, rattling ceasefire

CAIRO: At least 25 Palestinians were killed in four Israeli air strikes on Wednesday in a part of Gaza under Hamas control since a shaky ceasefire took effect in October, health authorities said.

Medics said 10 people were killed in the Gaza City suburb of Zeitoun, two in Shejaia suburb to the east and the rest in two separate attacks in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.

The Israeli military said its forces struck Hamas targets across Gaza after members of the Palestinian group fired on its troops in violation of the nearly six-week-old ceasefire. No Israeli forces were injured.

Repeated shooting incidents have pointed to the fragility of the ceasefire. Israel and Hamas have traded blame for what both call violations of the US-brokered truce, the first stage of President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan for a post-war Gaza.

All three attacks were far beyond an agreed-upon imaginary “yellow line” separating the areas under Israeli and Palestinian control, according to medics, witnesses and Palestinian media.

The Zeitoun attack was on a building belonging to Muslim religious authorities and the Khan Younis attack was on a UN-run club, both of which house displaced families.

The October 10 ceasefire in the two-year Gaza war has eased the conflict, enabling hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to return to Gaza’s ruins. Israel has pulled troops back from city positions, and aid flows have increased.

But violence has not completely halted. Palestinian health authorities say Israeli forces have killed 305 people in strikes on Gaza since the truce, nearly half of them in one day last week when Israel retaliated for an attack on its troops.

Israel says three of its soldiers have been killed since the ceasefire began and it has targeted scores of fighters.

Israel also conducted several strikes in southern Lebanon on Wednesday. The Israeli military said it struck Hezbollah weapons storage facilities in several towns and accused the Iran-backed group of trying to rebuild its capabilities.

The Israeli military has kept up frequent air strikes in Lebanon in spite of a ceasefire sealed last November that sought to end more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah.