Israel kills 21 in Gaza, says Hamas violated peace deal

Israeli strikes tore through Gaza again on Wednesday, 4 February, killing at least 21 Palestinians — including two infants — and further shattering what was meant to be a ceasefire, according to hospital officials. The attacks, which hit homes, tents and densely populated neighbourhoods, underscored the growing fury in Gaza that the war is continuing almost uninterrupted, with civilians paying the price.

Israel said the strikes were in response to a militant attack that seriously wounded one Israeli soldier. But for Palestinians, such justifications ring hollow as the death toll mounts. Since the ceasefire came into force on 10 October 2025, Israeli fire has repeatedly punctured the truce, leaving many in Gaza saying it feels meaningless. Among those killed on Wednesday were five children, seven women and an on-duty paramedic, hospital officials said.

“The genocidal war against our people in the Gaza Strip continues,” said Dr Mohamed Abu Selmia, director of Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital, in a Facebook post. “Where is the ceasefire? Where are the mediators?”

Israel has strongly rejected accusations of genocide. The largely one-sided war began on 7 October 2023, when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, reportedly killing 1,200 people — most of them civilians — and abducting 251 others, according to Israeli authorities.

The ceasefire was meant to pause more than two years of devastating war between Israel and Hamas, but it has been repeatedly undermined by fresh Israeli attacks. While large-scale battles have ebbed, flare-ups of violence have become routine.

Gaza health officials say 556 Palestinians have been killed and 1,500 wounded by Israeli fire since the ceasefire took effect. Israel’s military says four Israeli soldiers have died during the same period.

Israel insists its continued strikes respond to Hamas violations or militant attacks. Yet civilians have borne the brunt. Eight Arab and Muslim countries, including ceasefire mediators Egypt and Qatar, have condemned what they described as Israel’s “repeated violations” of the agreement.

An Israeli military official, speaking anonymously in line with policy, told The Associated Press that the latest strikes followed militant gunfire that badly wounded a reservist earlier on Wednesday.

In one of the deadliest incidents of the day, Israeli troops fired on a building in the Tuffah neighbourhood of northern Gaza, killing at least 11 people — most from the same family — Shifa Hospital said. The dead included two parents, their 10-day-old baby girl, her five-month-old cousin and the children’s grandmother.

Mourners gathered in Shifa Hospital’s courtyard for funeral prayers as grief turned to rage. “What did this child do? …. Why are they killing the children?” asked Mohammad Jaser, a relative of the family. “We don't understand why this is happening to us. What do we do? Where do we go? This isn't life.”

Scenes of raw loss unfolded as two young children knelt beside their father’s body, while a woman urged them to say goodbye. A young girl kissed her father’s cheeks.

The bloodshed did not stop there. An Israeli strike on a family tent in the southern city of Khan Younis killed three people, including a 12-year-old boy, according to Nasser Hospital. Tank shelling in Gaza City’s eastern Zaytoun neighbourhood killed three more Palestinians, Shifa Hospital said.

Another strike on a tent in the Muwasi area of Khan Younis killed at least two people and wounded five others, according to a Palestinian Red Crescent field hospital. Among the dead was Hussein Hassan Hussein al-Semieri, a paramedic who was on duty at the time.

The Gaza health ministry said at least 38 Palestinians were wounded in total on Wednesday.

The limited reopening of the Rafah border crossing on Monday was touted as progress under the ceasefire. In reality, movement has been minimal, chaotic and humiliating for those attempting to cross.

Only 40 Palestinians managed to enter Gaza on Tuesday after hours of delays. They reached Nasser Hospital around 1.00 am on Wednesday, greeted by anxious relatives. By midday, no one else had crossed.

Three women who entered Gaza on Monday told The Associated Press that Israeli troops blindfolded and handcuffed them, interrogated and threatened them, and held them for hours before release.

Asked about the accounts, the Israeli military said “no incidents of inappropriate conduct, mistreatment, apprehensions, or confiscation of property by the Israeli security establishment are known”.

Some elements of the ceasefire have moved forward. Hamas has released all remaining hostages, while Israel has freed several thousand Palestinian detainees and begun reopening Rafah. Humanitarian aid has increased, and a technocratic committee has been appointed to manage Gaza’s day-to-day affairs.

But key provisions — including the deployment of an international security force, Hamas’ disarmament and Gaza’s reconstruction — remain stalled. The United States has offered no timeline.

More than 71,800 Palestinians have been killed since the war began, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which does not distinguish between fighters and civilians. While run by the Hamas-led administration, its casualty figures are considered broadly reliable by UN agencies and independent experts.

As Israeli strikes continue to kill children, families and aid workers, anger is mounting in Gaza and beyond that the so-called ceasefire has become little more than a diplomatic fig leaf for ongoing devastation.

With AP/PTI inputs