Israeli air and tank strikes across the Gaza Strip killed at least 19 Palestinians on Wednesday, most of them women and children, hospital officials said, as Israel vowed to continue military operations following a shooting that seriously wounded one of its soldiers.
Among those killed were five children — including a 10-day-old baby and a 5-month-old infant — seven women, and a paramedic with the Palestinian Red Crescent, according to hospital officials. Nearly 40 other people were wounded.
The strikes came amid a fragile U.S.-brokered ceasefire that took effect on 10 October 2025. Since then, at least 556 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry. Israeli military officials say four Israeli soldiers have been killed in Palestinian attacks during the same period.
Israel cites militant attack as justification
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the strikes were launched after militants opened fire on Israeli troops in northern Gaza, near the so-called Yellow Line beyond which Israeli forces are stationed. The shooting seriously wounded a reservist officer who was evacuated to the hospital.
The military described the incident as a “blatant violation” of the ceasefire agreement and said tanks and aircraft carried out “precise strikes” against what it called terrorist targets.
An Israeli military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Israel would continue striking Gaza and has consistently defended post-ceasefire attacks as responses to Hamas violations or direct threats to its forces.
Hamas rejected Israel’s justification, accusing it of using the shooting as “a flimsy pretext” to continue attacks. International mediators have condemned the violence, while Hamas has repeatedly accused Israel of violating the truce.
Deadly strikes across Gaza
The deadliest incident occurred early Wednesday in the Tuffah neighborhood of northern Gaza, where Israeli fire hit a residential building, killing at least 11 people from the same family, according to Shifa Hospital. Those killed included two parents, their 10-day-old daughter, her 5-month-old cousin, and their grandmother.
Al-Shifa Hospital said it received the bodies of 13 people killed in strikes on homes and tents in the Tuffah and Zaytoun neighborhoods of Gaza City. Among mourners at the hospital was Abu Mohammed Haboush, who said his family was asleep when their home was shelled.
“Our children were martyred — my son, my brother’s son and daughter,” he said. “We are peaceful people.”
In southern Gaza, Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis said four people, including a child, were killed when tents sheltering displaced families were struck in the Qizan Rashwan area. Separate tank shelling in Gaza City’s Zaytoun neighborhood killed three Palestinians, including a husband and wife.
In the coastal al-Mawasi area west of Khan Younis, two sisters — Rahaf and Remas Abu Jamea — and paramedic Hussein Hassan Hussein al-Semieri were killed when a tent was hit, hospital officials said. A field hospital run by the Palestinian Red Crescent reported that five others were wounded.
A Civil Defence first responder said al-Semieri was killed in a second strike after rushing to help victims of an earlier attack. The Palestinian Red Crescent said he was killed “while carrying out his humanitarian duty” and accused Israel of a “grave violation” of international humanitarian law protecting medical personnel.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said it was “appalled” by the killing, stressing that first responders in Gaza should never be targeted.
Israel names Hamas commander as target
The IDF said the al-Mawasi strike targeted Bilal Abu Assi, whom it identified as a platoon commander in Hamas’s elite Nukhba unit. Israel alleged he led the 7 October 2023 attack on Kibbutz Nir Oz and was involved in holding the deceased hostages.
The military said it was aware of claims that civilians and medical staff were killed in the strike, adding that measures had been taken to minimize civilian harm.
Growing frustration over ceasefire
The escalating death toll has intensified Palestinian frustration over the ceasefire.
“The genocidal war against our people in the Gaza Strip continues,” said Dr. Mohamed Abu Selmiya, director of Shifa Hospital, in a Facebook post. “Where is the ceasefire? Where are the mediators?”
Since the start of the war — triggered by Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack on southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people and saw 251 hostages taken — more than 71,800 Palestinians have been killed, according to Gaza’s health ministry. The ministry does not distinguish between fighters and civilians but maintains casualty records that the United Nations and independent experts consider generally reliable. They say the true toll is likely higher, with many bodies still buried under rubble.
Israel disputes the ministry’s figures and has not released its own civilian casualty count from Gaza.
Both Israel and Hamas have accused each other of near-daily violations of the ceasefire, underscoring the growing fragility of the truce and raising doubts among many Palestinians that the war has truly ended.