Israel confirms multiple strikes in Gaza’s deadliest night since truce

Israel said it had carried out strikes on dozens of Hamas targets following the death of a soldier, with Gaza experiencing its deadliest night of bombing since a US-brokered truce went into effect earlier this month.

After the strikes, the Israeli military said it had begun “renewed enforcement of the ceasefire”, though explosions could still be seen on an AFP live video feed of the Gaza skyline after the statement was issued.

US President Donald Trump, who helped to broker the nearly three-week-old truce, had earlier said that nothing would be allowed to jeopardise it, but he also endorsed Israel’s right to “hit back” if attacked.

Gaza’s civil defence agency said the strikes killed more than 100 people, including at least 35 children, a toll confirmed by an AFP tally of medical sources at five hospitals in Gaza.

The territory’s main Al-Shifa hospital said one strike hit its backyard.

“We had just started to breathe again, trying to rebuild our lives, when the bombardment came back,” said 31-year-old Khadija al-Husni, living under canvas at a school in the Al-Shati refugee camp.

“It’s a crime. Either there is a truce or a war — it can’t be both. The children couldn’t sleep; they thought the war was over.”

– ‘We’re exhausted’ –

In the central city of Deir al-Balah, in a tent near the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Hospital, 40-year-old Jalal Abbas was close to despair and accused the Israelis of seeking false pretexts to resume their campaign.

“The problem is that Trump gives them cover to kill civilians because they mislead him with false information,” he told AFP.

“We want an end to the war and the escalation. We’re exhausted and on the verge of collapse.”

The Israeli military said that its strikes had targeted 30 senior militants, with Defence Minister Israel Katz maintaining “dozens of Hamas commanders were neutralised”.

“There will be no immunity for anyone in the leadership of the terrorist organisation Hamas… Whoever raises a hand against an IDF soldier, his hand will be severed,” he added.

Israel said it launched the wave of strikes after a reservist — Master Sergeant Yona Efraim Feldbaum, 37 — was killed in Rafah when his engineering vehicle was hit by enemy fire.

“A few minutes later, several anti-tank missiles were fired at another armoured vehicle belonging to the troops in the area,” a military official said.

– ‘Escalation’ –

Hamas said its fighters had “no connection to the shooting incident in Rafah” and reaffirmed its commitment to the US-backed ceasefire.

It also delayed handing over what it said was the remains of a deceased hostage, because the “escalation will hinder the search, excavation and recovery of the bodies”.

Militants took 251 people hostage during Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel that triggered the war. After the start of this month’s ceasefire, it returned the 20 surviving captives still in its custody and began the process of returning 28 bodies.

But a row over the process of returning the last remains has threatened to derail the ceasefire plan — agreed between Israel and Hamas and backed by Trump’s US administration and regional mediators Egypt, Turkey and Qatar.

Israel accuses Hamas of reneging on the deal by not returning them fast enough, but the Palestinian group says it will take time to locate remains buried in Gaza’s ruins.

– ‘Fake recovery’ –

Hamas came under mounting pressure on Monday after it returned the partial remains of a previously recovered captive, which Israel said was a breach of the truce.

Hamas had said the remains were the 16th of 28 hostage bodies it had agreed to return under the ceasefire deal, which came into effect on October 10.

But Israeli forensic examination determined Hamas had in fact handed over partial remains of a hostage whose body had already been brought back to Israel around two years ago, according to Netanyahu’s office.

Israeli government spokeswoman Shosh Bedrosian accused Hamas of staging the discovery of the remains.

“Hamas dug a hole in the ground yesterday, placed the partial remains… inside of it, covered it back up with dirt, and handed it over to the Red Cross,” she told journalists.

The International Committee of the Red Cross, responding to a video in circulation that appeared to show the deception, called it “unacceptable that a fake recovery was staged”.

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“The ICRC team at this location were not aware that a deceased person had been placed there prior to their arrival, as seen in the footage,” it said, adding that its observers had acted in “good faith” and would raise concerns with the warring parties.

Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem has rejected claims the group knows where the remaining bodies are, arguing that Israel’s bombardment has left locations unrecognisable.

Hamas’s October 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people on the Israeli side, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Israel’s subsequent assault on Gaza has killed at least 68,643 people, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry that the UN considers reliable.

AFP