Israeli airstrike kills 33 people in Gaza Strip, Hamas-run civil defense authority says

At least 33 Palestinians have been killed in a series of Israeli airstrikes in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, according to civil defense and hospital officials.

Israel carried out the attack, which it said was a violation of a cease-fire agreement brokered by the United States.

Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz accused Hamas of attacking Israeli soldiers in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, violating conditions on the return of the bodies of dead hostages. Hamas claimed it had “nothing to do” with the attack and insisted it was honoring the cease-fire agreement.

US President Donald Trump insisted there was “nothing” to jeopardize the ceasefire, but added that Israel “should fight back” if its soldiers were targeted.

Israeli military attacks hit homes, schools, and residential blocks in Gaza City, Beit Lahia, Al-Breij, Nuseyrat, and Khan Yunis.

A Gaza Civil Defense spokesperson told the BBC that rescue teams were “operating in extremely difficult conditions due to continued bombing and a lack of equipment.”

“Some of the missing people are still trapped under the rubble, and we fear the death toll will rise further,” he said.

A brief statement released by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office on Tuesday night said he had ordered a “forced attack” by the military, but did not give a reason.

But Katz said Hamas had crossed a “red line” by launching attacks on Israeli soldiers in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday.

“Hamas will pay many times the price for its attacks on soldiers and its violation of the agreement to return the dead hostages,” he warned.

Israeli military officials said the Hamas attack took place “east of the Yellow Line,” which demarcates Israeli-controlled territory in the Gaza Strip under a ceasefire agreement.

Israeli media reported that troops in the southern Gaza city of Rafah came under fire from anti-tank missiles and snipers on Tuesday afternoon, while Palestinian media also reported Israeli artillery shelling in the area.

After Israeli forces carried out airstrikes in Gaza on Tuesday night, witnesses reported powerful explosions in several areas of the territory, including Gaza City in the north and Khan Yunis in the south.

A spokesman for the Hamas-run civil defense agency told the BBC that four people, including three women, were among the dead when the al-Banna family home was bombed in Gaza City's southern Sabra district.

The courtyard of Al Shifa Hospital in the western Rimal region was also reportedly hit by strikes.

A further five people, including two children and a woman, were killed in a car crash on al-Qassam Street in Khan Yunis, civil defense spokesman Sgt.

Hamas issued a statement denying that its fighters attacked Israeli forces and condemning the Israeli attack.

“Hamas has no connection to the shooting incident in Rafah and confirms its commitment to the ceasefire agreement.”

“The criminal shelling carried out by the fascist occupation forces (Israel) in the Gaza Strip is a clear violation of the ceasefire agreement.”

Meanwhile, the group's military wing announced it was postponing the return of the bodies of hostages recovered on Tuesday, citing “violations” by Israel.

“The ceasefire remains in place, but that doesn't mean there won't be small skirmishes here and there,” Vice President Vance told reporters in Washington.

He added: “We know that Hamas or someone inside Gaza attacked (Israeli) soldiers. We expect the Israelis to react, but we think the president's peace will hold despite that.”

Earlier, Israel's prime minister had promised to take unspecified “measures” against Hamas after it handed over the coffin containing the body on Monday night. The coffin did not belong to one of the 13 dead hostages remaining in Gaza.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said forensic tests had determined that the bodies belonged to Ofir Tsarfati, an Israeli hostage whose body was recovered by Israeli forces in Gaza in late 2023, a “clear violation” of the ceasefire agreement.

The Israeli military also released drone footage showing Hamas operatives “removing bodies from previously prepared structures and burying them nearby” in eastern Gaza City on Monday.

It added that “immediately thereafter” the operatives “summoned Red Cross representatives and falsely claimed that they had discovered the bodies of the hostages.”

Hamas rejected what it called “baseless allegations” and accused Israel of “trying to forge false pretexts in preparation for taking new aggressive measures.”

In a later statement, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) condemned what it called a “disguised recovery” and said it attended the scene “at the request of Hamas” and “in good faith.”

It added: “The ICRC team at this location was not aware of the deceased being laid there prior to their arrival, as seen in the footage. In general, our role as neutral intermediaries does not include the exhumation of the bodies of the deceased.”

“Our team merely observed what appeared to be the recovery of remains, with no prior knowledge of the circumstances leading up to it.

“It is unacceptable that a false recovery has been staged at a time when so much depends on this agreement being upheld and so many families still anxiously waiting for news of their loved ones.”

The ceasefire agreement brokered by the United States, Egypt, Qatar and Turkey is supposed to implement the first phase of President Donald Trump's 20-point Gaza peace plan.

Hamas announced that it would return 48 hostages, both living and dead, within 72 hours of the ceasefire taking effect on October 10.

All 20 living Israeli hostages were released on October 13 in exchange for 250 Palestinian prisoners and 1,718 Gaza Strip detainees.

Israel also handed over the bodies of 195 Palestinians in exchange for the bodies of two foreign hostages, one Thai and one Nepali, in exchange for the bodies of 13 Israeli hostages previously returned by Hamas.

Eleven of the dead hostages remaining in Gaza are Israeli, one Tanzanian and one Thai.

Hamas' chief negotiator Khalil al-Haya said on Saturday that Hamas faces difficulties because Israeli forces have “altered the terrain of Gaza.” He also said that “some of the people who buried the bodies were martyred or no longer remember where they were buried.”

However, the Israeli government insists that Hamas knows the location of all bodies.

All but one hostage who remained in Gaza and died were among the 251 people abducted in the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, during which approximately 1,200 others were killed.

Israel responded by launching a military operation in Gaza, during which more than 68,530 people were killed, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Strip's Health Ministry.