Israeli forces launched intense airstrikes across Gaza on Saturday, resulting in 27 deaths, including three children, as attacks targeted a police station, residential buildings, and displacement tents. Palestinian health officials reported the casualties from strikes that hit key sites linked to Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants. The Israeli military described the operations as retaliation for a violation of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire established last October following two years of intense conflict.
Strike Details and Casualties
The assault began with warplanes hitting the Sheikh Radwan police station west of Gaza City, where medics and local police confirmed 10 officers and detainees lost their lives. Rescue teams continue searching the rubble for additional victims, according to Gaza’s Hamas-administered police force.
Additional strikes demolished at least two homes in northern-central Gaza City and a tent encampment sheltering displaced families in southern Khan Younis. Video evidence from the scene shows scorched walls, collapsed structures, and debris scattered across streets in a multi-story apartment building.
Samer al-Atbash, uncle to the three young girls killed, expressed grief over the loss: “We found my three little nieces in the street. They say ‘ceasefire’ and all. What did those children do? What did we do?”
Ceasefire Context and Violations
Hamas, which governs nearly half of the Gaza Strip, accused Israel of breaching the truce and did not verify if any of its members or installations were struck. The attacks unfolded just one day before the Rafah border crossing with Egypt plans to reopen under a U.S.-supported initiative to conclude the war that has ravaged the region.
The conflict ignited on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led gunmen assaulted southern Israel. Israeli officials warn that fighting may resume if Hamas refuses to disarm. The military detailed that Saturday’s strikes also neutralized weapon storage and production facilities, responding to an incident the previous day in Rafah, where troops spotted eight gunmen exiting a tunnel. Forces eliminated three and captured a fourth, identified as a local Hamas commander. Hamas offered no response to the event.
Dozens of Hamas fighters remain confined in Rafah tunnels since the ceasefire, with several killed in subsequent clashes. Truce violations persist, with Gaza health officials attributing over 500 civilian deaths to Israeli fire, while Israeli authorities report four soldiers killed by Palestinian militants. Both parties trade blame as the U.S. urges progress toward the deal’s subsequent stages, addressing Hamas disarmament—a condition the group rejects—Israeli troop pullbacks, and an international peacekeeping presence.
Hamas pushes to incorporate its 10,000 police officers into a new U.S.-backed Palestinian administration for Gaza, a proposal certain to encounter Israeli resistance.
