At Least 25 People Have Been Killed in Gaza in New Israeli Strikes

According to the Gaza health ministry—run by Hamas—at least 25 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes across the enclave. Rescue workers said ten people, including a woman and a young girl, died in Gaza City’s eastern Zeitoun district when a strike hit the Ministry of Religious Endowments building.

The Israeli military said it had targeted “Hamas terrorist sites” after armed militants opened fire near Israeli troops operating in Khan Younis, an incident it said violated the five-week ceasefire. Hamas did not immediately comment.

The flare-up came shortly after the UN Security Council approved a resolution endorsing a Gaza settlement plan proposed by US President Donald Trump to end the two-year devastating conflict.

Mahmoud Bassal, a spokesman for Gaza’s Civil Defence—also controlled by Hamas—told the BBC that shortly after sunset on Wednesday, Israeli airstrikes, drone attacks and artillery fire hit several areas in Gaza City and Khan Younis. He described the attacks as a sharp escalation after several relatively quiet days.

The Civil Defence reported severe damage to the Ministry of Endowments building and adjacent structures in Zeitoun, releasing footage that appeared to show rescue workers pulling two people from the rubble. Anadolu Agency published photographs of the bodies of three small children found at the strike site.

In another part of Gaza City, one person was killed and several were wounded after a drone struck a group of people at the Shuja’iyya junction on Salah ad-Din Street, the enclave’s main north–south artery, Bassal said. Another person died when a tank round hit the Balboul family home on Mushtaha Street in the same district.

In Khan Younis, he said, three people were killed and several injured when a strike hit a group gathered inside a sports club belonging to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).

In its statement, the Israel Defense Forces said: “Several terrorists opened fire in the area where IDF troops are operating in Khan Younis.” It added: “This act constitutes a violation of the ceasefire agreement. No soldiers were injured.” In response, the military said it struck Hamas targets across Gaza.

Israel’s public broadcaster Kan, citing a security source, reported that the strikes targeted the commander of Hamas’s Zeitoun battalion—part of the group’s military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades—as well as the head of its naval unit.

On Monday, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution aimed at strengthening the fragile truce that took effect on October 10. The document calls for the creation of a transitional governing body known as the Peace Council, to be led by President Trump, and for the deployment of a temporary International Stabilisation Force (ISF) tasked with overseeing “the demilitarisation process in the Gaza Strip.” Trump hailed the decision as “a truly historic moment.”

Hamas said in a statement that it would not surrender its weapons without the establishment of a Palestinian state, insisting that its conflict with Israel constitutes legitimate “resistance.” Israel’s ambassador to the UN stressed the importance of disarmament, saying the country “will not stop or ease the pressure” until Hamas no longer poses a “threat.”