At least 25 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip, the Hamas-run health ministry has reported. Among the dead are ten individuals, including a woman and a young girl, who perished when an Israeli strike hit a religious endowments building in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighborhood.
The Israeli military has stated that these strikes targeted 'Hamas terrorist targets' after gunmen allegedly opened fire toward an area where Israeli soldiers were conducting operations in Khan Younis, claiming it was a violation of a ceasefire that had been in place for five weeks.
Mahmoud Bassal, a spokesperson for Gaza's Hamas-run Civil Defence agency, noted that the air, drone, and artillery strikes began shortly after sunset, marking an alarming new wave of violence following several days of relative calm.
The devastation included severe damage to the targeted building and adjacent structures, with videos shared by the Civil Defence showing rescue workers unaing to find victims trapped under rubble. Reports indicate that three young children were among the fatalities emerging from the strike's aftermath.
In another incident, a drone strike in Gaza City resulted in one death and several injuries, further exacerbating an already critical humanitarian situation. The current violence comes just as the UN Security Council endorsed a new peace plan aimed at stabilizing the volatile region.
Local humanitarian organizations are on high alert as winter approaches, raising fears of further health crises in the besieged territory. Since the resurgence of conflict, at least 69,500 individuals have been reported killed in Gaza, with substantial numbers having died even during the ceasefire.
This escalation of violence, coupled with the bleak humanitarian reality on the ground, continues to challenge attempts at achieving lasting peace in the region.
