Sawt Falasteen - Gaza health officials say strikes kill 24 after Israel says officer wounded

Despite an ongoing US-brokered truce entering its second phase last month, violence has continued in the Gaza Strip, with Israel and Hamas accusing each other of breaching the agreement.

The latest bloodshed came after Israel partly reopened the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, the only gateway to the Palestinian territory that does not pass through Israel.

The Gazan health ministry, which operates under Hamas authority, said that 21 people were killed, including three children, in a series of strikes, with at least 38 others wounded.

The territory's civil defence agency said that two more people were killed and eight injured in a strike on a tent in the centre of the Strip, and another person was killed in a strike that hit a group of civilians west of Gaza City.

The Israeli military said it had launched strikes after "terrorists opened fire on troops" Wednesday, seriously wounding an officer.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said it was "outraged" by the killing of an on-duty paramedic, Hussein Hassan Hussein Al-Samiri, in a bombardment in the southern Al-Mawasi area.

The Israeli military said one strike in southern Gaza had targeted a Hamas platoon commander named Bilal Abu Assi who led an assault on a kibbutz during the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the Gaza war.

It added it was aware of claims that "several uninvolved civilians, including a medical staff member, were hit in the strike" and that it had taken steps "to mitigate harm to civilians as much as possible".

The military said its strikes had also killed Ali Raziana, whom it described as the commander of Hamas ally Islamic Jihad's northern Gaza brigade, as well as Hamas's Muhammad Issam Hassan al-Habil, accused of killing an Israeli soldier, Noa Marciano, who was taken hostage on October 7.

In Gaza City, Abu Mohammed Haboush said "we were sleeping when suddenly shells and gunfire rained down on us".

"Young children were martyred, my son and my nephew were among the dead. We lost many young men," he said.

- Shortage of medical aid -

AFP images showed mourners offering prayers in the compound of Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, where several bodies wrapped in white shrouds were laid out.

Three bodies were brought to Nasser Hospital after Israeli strikes hit homes and tents housing displaced Palestinians in the southern Khan Yunis area, the civil defence agency said.

Fourteen more bodies were taken to Al-Shifa Hospital, its director Mohamed Abu Salmiya said in a statement.

"We also received dozens of wounded. The situation is extremely difficult in the hospitals of the Gaza Strip due to the severe shortage of medicines and medical supplies," Abu Salmiya said.

Israel scrutinises all aid coming into besieged Gaza.

Israel on Monday allowed the reopening of the Rafah crossing, reportedly following US pressure, but limited passage to patients and their travel companions.

On Tuesday, 45 people crossed into Egypt and 42 entered the territory, a source at the Palestinian Red Crescent Society told AFP.

- 'My homeland' -

Relatives of those returning from Egypt screamed in joy, hugging and crying.

"I am so happy to be back with my husband, my children, my family, my loved ones and, of course, my homeland," Fariza Barabakh, who returned that day, told AFP.

"It's an indescribable feeling, thank God. What can I say? My two young children didn't recognise me, but thank God. I hope it will be alright," Yusef Abu Fahma, another returnee, told AFP.

Gaza's health ministry says at least 556 people have been killed in Israeli strikes since the ceasefire took effect on October 10, while the Israeli military says four of its soldiers have been killed over the same period.

Media restrictions and limited access in Gaza have prevented AFP from independently verifying casualty figures or freely covering the fighting.

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K.Hassan--SF-PST