Israeli strikes in Gaza killed at least 19 Palestinians, most of them women and children, by midday Wednesday, according to hospital officials. Israel pledged to continue strikes, saying that it was responding to a militant attack on Israeli soldiers that seriously wounded one.Among the Palestinians killed were five children, including a 5-month-old and a baby just 10 days old; seven women; and a paramedic, said hospital officials. They are the latest Palestinians in Gaza to die since a ceasefire deal, which has been punctuated by deadly Israeli strikes, came into effect on Oct. 10, 2025. More than 530 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli in that time, according to Gaza’s health ministry.The escalating Palestinian death toll has rocked the U.S.-backed truce and caused Palestinians in the strip to say it does not feel like the war has ended.
“The genocidal war against our people in the Gaza Strip continues,” said Dr. Mohamed Abu Selmiya, director of Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital, in a Facebook post. “Where is the ceasefire? Where are the mediators?”An Israeli military official, speaking on the condition of anonymity in line with military policy, told The Associated Press that Israel would continue striking the strip. Since the ceasefire took hold, Israel’s military has defended deadly strikes by saying it is responding to Hamas violations or militant attacks on its soldiers. The military says four soldiers have been killed since the ceasefire took hold.Mediators have condemned the attacks and Hamas has called them violations of the deal.Early Wednesday, Israeli troops fired on a building in the Tuffah neighborhood in north Gaza, killing at least 11 people, most from the same family, said Shifa Hospital, which received the bodies. The dead included two parents, their 10-day-old girl, her 5-month-old cousin and their grandmother.
