Medics reported multiple casualties in Gaza City, Khan Younis, and Rafah, marking one of the deadliest days since the ceasefire agreement began.
GAZA CITY — At least 20 Palestinians were killed in a series of Israeli airstrikes and shelling across the Gaza Strip on Saturday, Palestinian medics said, as intensifying military operations threatened to unravel the fragile ceasefire.
The death toll rose throughout the day as strikes targeted different parts of the enclave. In one of the most high-profile incidents, an Israeli missile struck a vehicle in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City, killing four people.
Video footage showed the car reduced to a burning wreck. While the Israeli military stated the strike targeted a “terrorist cell” planning an imminent attack, medics at Al-Ahli Arab Hospital said bystanders were also wounded by shrapnel.
However, the violence was not limited to that single strike. Health officials reported that tank shelling and air raids in the Zeitoun suburb of Gaza City killed seven people earlier in the day.
In the southern Gaza Strip, where over a million displaced people are sheltering, strikes in Khan Younis and Rafah claimed the lives of nine others. Medics at the Nasser Medical Complex said the victims included civilians whose homes were hit by artillery fire.
The Israeli military said in a statement that its forces were operating against “terrorist infrastructure” and armed squads across the Strip. It reported eliminating militants in close-quarters combat and destroying tunnel shafts, specifically noting the operation in Rafah where troops engaged gunmen emerging from underground.
This surge in violence represents a significant escalation. Saturday’s toll of 20 dead marks a bloody turning point following days of simmering tensions, including shooting incidents near the border and localized skirmishes.
Diplomats have expressed concern that the renewed intensity of Israeli operations and the rising Palestinian death toll could lead to a total collapse of the truce agreement, which has been in place since October.
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