By Middle East Correspondent
London, (The Muslim News): At least 23 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, marking one of the deadliest days since a United States-brokered ceasefire came into effect in October, according to medical sources. Several children were among the dead, including an 11-year-old girl, as Israeli shelling and air strikes struck residential neighbourhoods and displacement camps across the territory.
Fourteen people were killed in Israeli artillery attacks on the al-Tuffah and al-Zeitoun neighbourhoods of Gaza City, while four others were reported dead after shelling hit tents sheltering displaced families in the Qizan Abu Rashwan area, south of Khan Younis. Two additional Palestinians were killed in Israeli air attacks on the al-Mawasi coastal tent camp, where the Palestine Red Crescent Society said one of the victims was first responder Hussein Hasan Hussein al-Sumairy, who was killed while carrying out humanitarian duties.
Reporting from Khan Younis, Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum said residential homes in Gaza City had been “squarely targeted without any prior warning,” adding that the attacks, which occurred despite a ceasefire supposedly being in place, had left Palestinians in Gaza “without any sense of respite.” He said there had been a surge in Israel’s military activity across the Strip with the sound of Israeli drones hovering overhead signalling the possibility of further attacks.
Medical sources said the death toll continued to rise after Israeli shelling targeted Street 5 in the al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis, killing at least three people and wounding 12 others, who were transferred to the Red Crescent’s field hospital. Local sources said an Israeli helicopter struck a tent housing displaced civilians, and as ambulance crews moved in to evacuate the wounded, an Israeli drone then targeted the rescue team.
Nasser Hospital said it received the bodies of three Palestinians killed in Israeli artillery fire that struck homes in the Qizan Rashwan area south of Khan Younis, an area outside Israeli military control. In Gaza City, four Palestinians were killed and others wounded in heavy shelling along Yaffa Street, al-Sikka Street and al-Hajar Street in the al-Tuffah neighbourhood, while Al-Shifa Hospital said it received the bodies of two women and a girl killed when Israeli forces shelled a tent in al-Mahatta Park. Two elderly people and a child were also admitted after artillery fire hit the Street 10 area in the al-Zeitoun neighbourhood.
In central Gaza, Israeli forces killed two Palestinians, including a child, in an attack on a tent sheltering displaced civilians east of Deir al-Balah, medics said.
Israel’s military said its armoured units and aircraft carried out attacks in northern Gaza after a reserve officer was severely injured during what it described as “routine operational activity” near the “yellow line” separating areas under Israeli military control.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said it was “outraged” by the killing of PRCS paramedic Hussein
Hassan Hussein Al-Samiri, describing his death during a humanitarian mission in Khan Younis as a violation of protections afforded to medical workers.
The federation said humanitarian and medical personnel must be respected and protected at all times to ensure life-saving assistance can reach people in need, stressing that the Red Cross and Red Crescent emblems are symbols of protection, humanity, neutrality and hope, yet staff and volunteers are too often killed while carrying out emergency work. It added that the loss of Hussein was a tragic reminder of the dangers faced by those who dedicate their lives to helping others and said the protection of civilians and aid workers remains a legal and moral obligation.
According to the IFRC, 30 PRCS staff and volunteers have been killed in Gaza and two in the West Bank since October 2023.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said 54 Palestinian bodies and 66 boxes containing human remains were transferred to Gaza on Wednesday after being released by Israel, with the transfer carried out through the International Committee of the Red Cross. The remains arrived at Al-Shifa Medical Complex, where medical teams immediately began forensic handling and documentation in coordination with relevant authorities, ahead of families being allowed to identify the bodies under established protocols.
At least 71,803 Palestinians have been killed and more than 171,000 wounded in Israeli attacks since October 7, 2023, Palestinian health authorities said, with about 90% of Gaza’s infrastructure destroyed. Israel has continued to violate a phased ceasefire agreement that took effect in October, despite the US administration’s announcement in January that the second phase had begun, including further Israeli withdrawals and reconstruction efforts estimated by the UN to cost around $70 billion.
Upsurge in violence against Palestinians in West Bank
Violence has also intensified in the occupied West Bank. Israeli Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir acknowledged an upsurge in attacks by illegal settlers against Palestinians, urging security agencies not to stand idly by in the face of what he described as “nationalist crimes.”
Outgoing coordinator of Israeli government activities in the Palestinian territories Ghassan Alian said the attacks damage Israel’s image and the settlement project, even if carried out by small extremist groups, warning that their security and political impact is wide-reaching.
Israeli police data showed a 3% increase in cases opened in 2025 against suspects involved in rioting and violence in the West Bank.
During the same period, the Palestine Red Crescent Society said its crews transferred a 28-year-old man to hospital after he was shot near the Jenin refugee camp, while Palestinian media reported that a woman and her daughter were injured after illegal Jewish settlers assaulted them between Osarin and Beita, south of Nablus.
Israeli forces continued raids across the West Bank, storming the towns of al-Yamoun and al-Silah al-Harithiya, west of Jenin, as Palestinian, Israeli and international human rights organisations warned of a sustained rise in settler violence and impunity.
Israeli forces also raided al-Tahaddi School–Ibziq in the Tubas governorate, destroying facilities, confiscating educational equipment and cutting water, electricity and internet access, according to the Palestinian Education Ministry. The ministry said these assaults and dangerous practices constitute a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and international conventions guaranteeing children’s right to safe education, warning of severe psychological and educational impacts on students and teachers.
According to Palestinian figures, illegal settlers carried out about 4,723 attacks in the West Bank in 2025, killing 14 Palestinians and forcibly displacing 13 Bedouin communities, while the number of settlers reached around 770,000 by the end of 2024.
The International Court of Justice ruled in July 2024 that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory is illegal under international law and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
[Photo: Palestinians at the site where Israeli forces demolish Palestinian family’s home in the town of Beit Awwa, west of Hebron in the southern West Bank, on the grounds that it lacked a building permit on February 05, 2026. According to eyewitnesses, Israeli troops raided the town and sealed off several neighborhoods, closing roads and restricting entry and exit. Photojournalist: Mamoun Wazwaz/AA]
