Gaza Ceasefire in Jeopardy After Israeli Airstrikes Kill 27

Israeli warplanes unleashed a wave of devastating air strikes across Gaza on Wednesday, killing at least 27 Palestinians in the single deadliest day since the fragile US-brokered ceasefire took effect last month. Fourteen civilians lost their lives in densely populated neighbourhoods of Gaza City in the north, while 13 more were killed in the southern city of Khan Yunis, according to the territory’s civil defence agency and multiple hospitals contacted independently. The sudden escalation has plunged the Strip back into terror barely weeks after families began tentative returns to shattered homes.

The Israeli military justified the bombardment by claiming Hamas fighters had opened fire near troops operating in southern Gaza, describing the incident as a clear violation of the truce agreement signed on 10 October. Hamas swiftly rejected the accusation, branding the strikes a deliberate and dangerous escalation designed to torpedo the ceasefire altogether. Residents who had only just begun rebuilding their lives described scenes of chaos as missiles rained down without warning, turning cautious optimism into renewed despair overnight.

In Gaza City, 50-year-old Ahraf Abu Sultan told reporters that his family had managed to repair just one room of their bombed-out house two days earlier after a year of displacement. “We thought the worst was behind us, but the explosions returned and death followed immediately,” he said. Another resident, Nivine Ahmed, recounted chatting with a neighbour when massive blasts overturned everything in seconds, sending people fleeing amid thick smoke and the wail of ambulance sirens racing to collect the dead and wounded.

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Since the ceasefire began, Israel has conducted repeated operations it insists target only Hamas infrastructure and personnel, yet more than 280 Palestinians have been killed in such incidents, according to figures from the Hamas-run health ministry that United Nations agencies consider reliable. The truce was meant to progress to a second phase under President Donald Trump’s peace plan, including Hamas disarmament and deployment of an international force, but negotiations remain deadlocked. Monday’s UN Security Council endorsement of the US-drafted resolution has been dismissed by Hamas as ignoring core Palestinian demands.

Meanwhile, Israel carried out fresh strikes against Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon on the same day, accusing the Iran-backed movement of rebuilding military capabilities in violation of last November’s separate ceasefire. In a provocative move, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Israeli troops stationed inside the Syrian buffer zone, drawing fierce condemnation from Damascus as a blatant breach of sovereignty. The rapid succession of military actions across three fronts has raised grave concerns that the region’s fragile truces are unraveling simultaneously.

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