JERUSALEM — Airstrikes killed at least 32 people in Gaza overnight Friday, according to hospital and emergency response officials in the enclave, as Israel launched what it said were extensive strikes targeting Hamas militants and weapons sites.
It was one of the bloodiest nights in Gaza since the Israel-Hamas ceasefire brokered by President Donald Trump in October, as the peace process enters its precarious second phase. Israel is due to open the key Rafah border crossing with Egypt on Sunday and begin allowing the limited entry and exit of people — a concession made by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu under pressure from Trump.
Egypt, a mediator in the conflict, condemned the strikes as the latest of Israel’s “repeated violations” of the ceasefire. An Israeli security official said Hamas had provoked Israel with “blatant violations” of the ceasefire by sending eight militants out of a tunnel in Rafah the previous night.
Israel also struck weapons storage, manufacturing and launch sites in Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement.
The Gaza Civil Defense emergency response team and hospital officials said Israel struck a tent in Khan Younis that housed the Abu Hadayed family, killing seven people; a residential home in the al-Nasr neighborhood west of Gaza City; and a police station in Gaza City’s Sheikh Redwan area.
The majority of the 32 dead as of Saturday afternoon were women and children, according to Gaza Civil Defense spokesman Mahmoud Bassal.
The Israeli military has killed 509 Gazans and injured more than 1,400 since the ceasefire took effect Oct. 11, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. The Israeli campaign has killed more than 71,000 people in the enclave since October 2023, according to the ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians.
The Israeli government launched the campaign after Hamas led an assault on southern Israel that killed 1,200 people and took 251 back to Gaza as hostages, according to Israeli officials.
The IDF believes the number of deaths in Gaza is about 70,000, not including bodies buried under rubble, a senior Israeli military official told Israeli reporters on background this week. The IDF is still reviewing how many of the dead were combatants and how many were civilians, the official said.
After Israeli media reported the official’s comments, the IDF clarified that it was not disclosing formal casualty estimates.
“The details published do not reflect official IDF data,” Lt. Col Nadav Shoshani wrote on X. “Any publication or report on this matter will be released through official and orderly channels.”
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