Israel launched a series of strikes on Gaza on Wednesday, killing at least 25 people, according to the local health ministry, and piercing a cease-fire in the territory that has mostly held for the past six weeks.
The truce between Israel and Hamas has been punctuated by occasional eruptions of deadly violence. Both sides have said, however, that they are still committed to maintaining the cease-fire.
On Wednesday, the Israeli military said several militants had opened fire on its forces near the southern city of Khan Younis in Gaza without causing injuries. In response, Israeli forces were “striking Hamas terrorist targets across the Gaza Strip,” the military’s statement said.
Gaza’s Civil Defense emergency workers said they had recovered 10 bodies after an Israeli strike on a building in Gaza City, in the north. Another woman was killed and two others were wounded in a strike in southern Gaza, according to he agency.
After more than two years of devastating war, Israel and Hamas agreed to a truce in mid-October that had been brokered by the Trump administration, Egypt, Qatar and Turkey. But the cease-fire did not decisively end the war, and sporadic violence has erupted several times since the agreement was signed.
As part of the deal, Hamas turned over the remaining hostages it had held in Gaza in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Israeli forces pulled back to a new withdrawal line that left them in control of about half of the enclave.
The Trump administration, along with other mediators, is trying to move ahead with the next steps in President Trump’s ambitious vision for peace in Gaza. That includes Hamas laying down its weapons, the deployment of an international security force and a full Israeli withdrawal.
But many observers fear the cease-fire could fall apart long before it ever reaches that stage.
Israeli forces have come under fire multiple times since mid-October, killing at least three soldiers. Blaming Hamas for the attacks, Israel has responded with great force, killing more than 280 Palestinians since the truce went into effect, according to Gaza’s health ministry. The ministry’s toll does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
In late October, Israeli forces killed at least 100 people across Gaza, including children, in a single night of strikes, according to Palestinian health officials. Israeli officials said they had been responding to an attack that killed an Israeli soldier, as well as Hamas’s failure to promptly hand over the remaining bodies of hostages still believed to be in Gaza.
Since the cease-fire came into effect, Israeli forces have also attacked Gazans that the military said had crossed the line that now divides the territory, in violation of the agreement. One attack struck a civilian vehicle carrying several members of an extended family.
At least nine people were killed in that strike, including several children, according to relatives. The Israeli military confirmed firing on the car, saying the driver had ignored warning fire and crossed the cease-fire line.
Aaron Boxerman is a Times reporter covering Israel and Gaza. He is based in Jerusalem.
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