Israel kills at least 28 Palestinians in major Gaza ceasefire breach

A wave of devastating Israeli strikes swept across the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, shattering what remained of the fragile, US-brokered ceasefire and plunging the besieged enclave once again into scenes of terror and grief.

At least 28 Palestinians were killed, medical sources told Al Jazeera, in what has become one of the most jarring breaches of the truce since it took effect last month. Another 77 people were wounded, according to Gaza’s health ministry, as the toll climbed through the day.

Al Jazeera described a night ripped apart by explosions as Israeli forces struck three locations: the al-Mawasi area near Khan Younis in southern Gaza, a crowded junction in Shujayea filled with displaced families, and a residential building in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighbourhood. That building was flattened, killing an entire family — a mother, father, and their three children — a tragedy that Mahmoud said has unleashed new waves of fear across an already traumatised population.

“Palestinians here live in a daily theatre of horrors,” he said, noting that bombardments have scarcely paused since the ceasefire supposedly came into force on October 10. “The war never truly stopped.”

Israel’s military claimed the strikes were aimed at “Hamas targets,” citing an incident in which its forces came under fire in Khan Younis. It vowed to continue acting “forcefully” to eliminate threats. Hamas rejected the accusation outright, calling it a “flimsy” justification for renewed bloodshed and accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of seeking to reignite “genocide” against Palestinians.

According to Al Jazeera report, Israel has effectively granted itself the authority to act as “judge, jury, and executioner” in determining ceasefire violations, launching lethal attacks whenever it declares — unilaterally — that the truce has been breached.

Wednesday’s assault unfolded against a backdrop of mounting regional tensions. In Lebanon, Israeli strikes have intensified dramatically after the bombing of a Palestinian refugee camp killed more than a dozen people just a day earlier. The violence also comes mere days after the UN Security Council endorsed the Trump administration’s Gaza peace plan, which calls for an “international stabilisation force” and a new “board of peace” to oversee governance in the coastal territory — conditions Hamas and other Palestinian factions say trample on Palestinian national rights.

Human rights group Al-Haq warned the UNSC that the resolution risks hollowing out Palestinian self-determination. Analysts, too, see storm clouds gathering. Khaled Elgindy of the Quincy Institute said Israel’s latest attacks challenge “the credibility of the international community” and test the very limits of the ceasefire the UN has championed.

“Without US action,” he said, “this becomes a war disguised as peacemaking.”

Yet, according to an Al Jazeera analysis, Israel has already violated the ceasefire at least 393 times — a stark reminder that for the people of Gaza, the promise of calm remains a distant and fragile illusion, overshadowed by the unrelenting drone of warplanes overhead.