Israeli strikes across Gaza k!lled at least 28 Palestinians on Wednesday night in the latest escalation of violence since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it carried out the strikes on Hamas targets after several terrorists fired on Israeli soldiers operating in Khan Younis in southern Gaza. This action constitutes a violation of the ceasefire agreement, the IDF said, adding that none of its forces had been injured. Hamas condemned the strikes as a dangerous escalation and rejected the IDFs account, accusing Israel of trying to justify its ongoing crimes and violations. It called on the US to exert immediate, serious pressure on Israel to respect the ceasefire and halt the aggression against our people. The strikes come just days after the UN Security Council endorsed US President Donald Trumps plan for how to move beyond the fragile truce to a more sustainable peace and the reconstruction of the devastated enclave.Nine children were among those killed in Wednesdays strikes, according to health officials in the enclave, and at least 77 others were injured. The deadliest strike Wednesday, No was in the Zaytun area in the east of Gaza, where 10 people, including a woman and a child, were killed, Gaza Civil Defense said. Another strike hit an area west of Khan Younis targeting a group of civilians inside the UNRWA club, referring to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. The current strikes were the third major escalation since the ceasefire agreement came into force in October, each preceded by an attack on Israeli soldiers. In the two previous escalations, approximately 150 Palestinians and three Israeli soldiers were killed. However, despite those escalations, the ceasefire has largely held. Israel launched its war in Gaza after Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostage during an attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. Since then, according to the Gaza health ministry, more than 69,000 Palestinians most of them women and children have been killed. As part of the first phase of the US-brokered ceasefire framework, Hamas agreed to release all the remaining hostages in Gaza, living and dead, while Israel agreed to withdraw from some parts of Gaza and release some Palestinian prisoners. Hamas has since released all of the living hostages and the bodies of all but three of the dead ones.Meanwhile, Israel also carried out airstrikes on what it claimed were Hezbollah weapons storage sites in southern Lebanon. The strikes in Gaza come a day after an Israeli strike on a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon killed 13 people, according to Lebanons health ministry. The IDF said Tuesdays strike had targeted a Hamas training compound that was being used to plan and carry out terrorist attacks against the IDF and the State of Israel. On Wednesday, Israel carried out further strikes in southern Lebanon, targeting what it said were several weapons storage facilities belonging to Hezbollahs rocket unit. The strikes caused no casualties but damaged several houses, according to Lebanons state-run National News Agency. Israel has been carrying out strikes in Lebanon targeting militants from Hezbollah as well as various Palestinian militant factions for more than two years. These escalated after Iran-backed Hezbollah launched attacks on Israel in support of Hamas following the October 7 attack. The latest strikes come despite a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah that took effect in November 2024.
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