Death toll reaches 33 in some of the deadliest Israeli strikes in Gaza since the ceasefire’s start

Israeli airstrikes in Gaza kill 33, mostly women and children, amid fragile ceasefire

Israeli strikes in Gaza’s southern city of Khan Younis killed five people early Thursday, according to hospital officials, bringing the death toll to 33 over a roughly 12-hour period. The majority of those killed were women and children in what has become one of the deadliest episodes since the U.S.-brokered ceasefire took effect on October 10.

The renewed violence erupted after Israel reported that its soldiers had come under fire in Khan Younis on Wednesday. Israeli military officials stated that no soldiers were killed in the incident and that the military responded with targeted strikes.

Four Israeli airstrikes on tents sheltering displaced people in Khan Younis late Wednesday and early Thursday killed 17 people, including five women and five children, according to officials at Nasser Hospital. In Gaza City, two separate airstrikes on a building killed 16 people, including seven children and three women, as reported by officials at Al-Shifa hospital where the bodies were taken.

Hamas condemned the Israeli strikes as a “shocking massacre” and denied firing toward Israeli troops in a statement released after the incidents.

At Nasser Hospital, crowds gathered to offer funeral prayers for those killed. Women mourned over the bodies of their loved ones wrapped in white burial shrouds. Among them was Abir Abu Moustapha, who lost her three children – aged 1, 11, and 12 – and her husband in a strike that hit their tent.

“My children are gone. What can I say? And my husband, my most precious. May God have mercy on them,” Abu Moustapha said as she sat beside their bodies being prepared for burial. “What was my children’s fault that they had to die? What was their fault that they died in front of my eyes?”

The Israeli military claimed their strikes targeted two Hamas figures: a commander in the group’s naval unit and another in charge of tunnels in parts of Khan Younis.

Hospital officials noted that the casualties came from both sides of the ceasefire boundary line, which currently divides Gaza in two, with approximately 50% of the territory under Israeli military control.

The strikes occurred shortly after the UN Security Council endorsed U.S. President Donald Trump’s blueprint for securing and governing Gaza. The plan calls for an international force to provide security in Gaza, establishes a transitional authority, and outlines a potential path toward an independent Palestinian state.

Implementation questions remain, particularly after Hamas rejected the plan, stating that the force’s mandate to disarm militants “strips it of its neutrality, and turns it into a party to the conflict in favor of the occupation.”

While Israeli strikes have decreased since the ceasefire began, they haven’t ceased entirely. Gaza’s Health Ministry has reported more than 300 deaths since the truce took effect. Both sides have accused each other of violating the agreement’s terms, which include increasing aid flow into Gaza and returning hostages to Israel.

According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, Israel’s military campaign has killed more than 69,000 Palestinians since it began over two years ago following Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel. In that attack, militants killed approximately 1,200 people and abducted 251 others. The Health Ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government but staffed by medical professionals, maintains detailed records that the UN and many independent experts consider reliable.

Under the ceasefire that began on October 10, Hamas released the final 20 living hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. Hamas has also returned the remains of 25 dead hostages, with three more still to be returned.

In a related development, an Israeli hostage freed under the ceasefire deal has alleged sexual abuse during his captivity. Speaking to Israel’s Channel 12 News, Guy Gilboa-Dalal described being assaulted by a captor after showering. “He started touching my whole body. I froze. I told him: ‘You’re kidding, aren’t you? This is forbidden by Islam,'” Gilboa-Dalal said. “He put a rifle to my head and a knife to my throat. He told me that if I told anyone about this, he would kill me.”

Another male hostage released the same day, Rom Braslavski, has also reported being sexually abused in captivity. Hamas officials have not responded to requests for comment on these allegations.

Meanwhile, released Palestinians who had been seized from Gaza and held in Israeli prisons have reported their own abuses, including being stripped to their underwear, subjected to beatings by guards, sexual abuse, being bound for days causing infections that led to amputations in some cases, and insufficient food or medical care.