DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel's military said Wednesday that the ceasefire was back on in Gaza after it carried out heavy airstrikes overnight across the Palestinian territory that killed 104
people, including 46 children, according to local health officials.
The strikes — the deadliest since the ceasefire was enacted on Oct. 10 — marked the most serious challenge to the tenuous truce
to date.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had ordered the military to conduct “powerful strikes” over Gaza after accusing Hamas of violating the ceasefire when the militant group handed over body parts that Israel said were the partial remains of a hostage recovered earlier in the war.
Netanyahu called the return of these body parts a “clear violation” of the ceasefire agreement, which requires Hamas to return the remaining hostages in Gaza as soon as possible. Israeli officials also accused Hamas of staging the discovery of these remains on Monday, sharing a 14-minute edited video captured by a military drone in Gaza.
In response to the Israeli strikes, Hamas said that it would delay handing over the body of another hostage.
U.S. President Donald Trump, currently on a trip to Asia, defended the strikes, saying Israel was justified in carrying them out after what he said was an incident in which Hamas killed an Israeli soldier during an exchange of gunfire in Rafah, the southernmost city in Gaza.
Hamas denied any involvement in that deadly shooting and in turn accused Israel of violating the ceasefire deal.
Hamas has said it is struggling to locate the bodies amid the vast destruction in Gaza, while Israel has accused the militant group of purposely delaying their return.
There are still 13 bodies of hostages in Gaza and their slow return is complicating efforts to proceed to the ceasefire's next phases, which addresses even thornier issues, such as the disarmament of Hamas, deployment of an international security force in Gaza and deciding who will govern the territory.
The Palestinian Health Ministry reported the overall death toll of 104 from the overnight strikes and said that 253 people were also wounded, most of them women and children. It said the dead include 46 children.
Mohammed Abu Selmia, director of Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, said 45 people — including 20 children — were in critical condition at the hospital. He said the hospital received more 21 bodies, including seven women and six children. That's on top of the at least 60 people who were reported killed earlier.
First, the Aqsa Hospital in Gaza's central city of Deir al-Balah reported at least 10 bodies, among them three women and six children. In southern Gaza, the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis said it received 20 bodies after five Israeli strikes in the area, of which 13 were children and two were women.
Elsewhere in central Gaza, the Al-Awda Hospital said it received 30 bodies, including 14 children.
Trump told journalists aboard Air Force One on Wednesday that Israel “should hit back” when its troops come under attack.
But he said he's still confident the ceasefire would withstand the escalation in violence because “Hamas is a very small part of the overall Middle East peace. And they have to behave.” If not, they will be “terminated,” Trump added.
An Israeli military official said Wednesday that the soldier was killed by “enemy fire” on Tuesday afternoon targeting his vehicle in Rafah. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential military operations.
The official said Israeli troops in the area came under attack numerous times Tuesday as they worked to destroy tunnels and Hamas infrastructure. Israel identified the soldier who was killed as Master Sgt. Yona Efraim Feldbaum, 37. Feldbaum also held U.S. citizenship.
Hamas insisted it was not involved in the Rafah gunfire and reiterated its commitment to the ceasefire.
“The violent strikes carried out by Israel across the strip is a blatant violation of the ceasefire deal,” said the militant group, calling on mediators to pressure Israel to stop.
Israel had notified the United States before launching the strikes on Tuesday, according to two U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the subject.
The Israeli military said its forces struck “30 terrorists holding command positions within terrorist organizations” operating inside the Palestinian territory.
It said Israeli forces would continue to uphold the ceasefire agreement but would “respond firmly” to any violation of the deal.
Ambulances and small trucks carrying bodies crowded hospital entrances overnight across Gaza. In Deir Al-Balah, bodies were wheeled in on stretchers, and others carried in on mattresses. One man walked into the hospital carrying the body of a young child.
“They struck right next to us, and we saw all the rubble on top of us and our young ones,” said a woman standing outside of the hospital.
At dawn, displaced Palestinians at the camp cleared remains of a destroyed tent next to a crater where the strike hit. They found the body of a small child and wrapped it in a blanket.
“What kind of a ceasefire is this?” Amna Qrinawi, a survivor, asked.
At the Al-Awda Hospital in central Gaza, scores of people gathered around dozens of bodies wrapped in white shrouds for funeral prayers. The hospital told the AP it had some 30 bodies, half of them children.
Family members wept as they bade farewell to their loved ones. Among them was Yehya Eid, who said he lost his brother and nephews. He wept over a small body in a bloodied white shroud outside the hospital.
“What is the reason of this? These are children who were killed. What did they do wrong? Did they fight in the war?” Eid asked, who said the strike came without warning. “These children are just like the rest of the children in the world.”
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Boak reported from Tokyo. Associated Press writers Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut, and Julia Frankel, Josef Federman and Renata Brito in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
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