28 Palestinians killed in wave of Israel attacks amid ‘ceasefire’

At least 28 Palestinians have been killed in a wave of Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, medical sources tell Al Jazeera, in one of the largest breaches of the United States-brokered ceasefire that came into effect last month.

The Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza said on Wednesday at least 77 Palestinians were also wounded in Israeli bombardment, according to a preliminary toll.

Reporting from Gaza City, Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud said the Israeli attacks targeted three specific sites including southern Gaza’s al-Mawasi area, near Khan Younis.

Israel also struck a junction in the eastern Gaza City area of Shujayea filled with displaced Palestinian families, and a building in the Zeitoun neighbourhood where at least 10 people – including an entire family – were killed.

“A father, a mother, and their three children were killed inside this building,” said Mahmoud, adding that the intensified attacks are fuelling panic throughout the Gaza Strip.

“Already, Palestinians across Gaza are dealing with daily horrors,” he said, noting Israeli bombings have not stopped since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas came into force on October 10.

“The war is still taking place, and Palestinians are still dying due to the ongoing violence.”

The Israeli military said it launched Wednesday’s strikes on “Hamas targets” across Gaza in response to an incident in which its troops came under fire in Khan Younis in the south of the territory.

“The [army] will continue to act forcefully to eliminate any threat to the State of Israel,” it said.

But Hamas rejected the claim that Israel’s forces were fired on, calling it “a flimsy and transparent attempt to justify its crimes and violations” in Gaza.

Wednesday’s assault on Gaza coincided with a series of Israeli attacks on Lebanon, where tensions are rapidly escalating after an Israeli bombing of a Palestinian refugee camp in the south of the country killed more than a dozen people on Tuesday.

It also came just days after the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) passed a resolution backing US President Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza, including the deployment of a so-called “international stabilisation force”.

The resolution also greenlit the establishment of a “board of peace” to oversee governance in the coastal territory, as the US and Israel demand that Hamas relinquish control of Gaza.