Hamas warns of ‘dangerous escalation’ after Israeli strikes kill 28 Palestinians in Gaza

Nine children were among those killed in the strikes on Wednesday, according to Gaza health officials who said that at least 77 others were injured.

Hamas rejected Israel’s claim that its fighters had fired first at Israeli troops, prompting the strikes. The group called the allegation “a weak and exposed attempt to justify their ongoing crimes and violations.”

The group pointed out that the Israeli regime has killed more than 300 Palestinians since the ceasefire took effect early last month.

It also denounced Israel for continuing policies of “demolishing and blowing up houses” and maintaining the closure of the Rafah crossing.

In Gaza City’s Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital complex, footage showed dozens of people crowding around incoming ambulances carrying Palestinian victims of the Israeli strikes.

Footage showed Palestinian people with the corpses of the Palestinians martyred inside the hospital in Gaza. One body bag held the bodies of three lifeless children still covered in dust.

Israeli forces also unleashed their most brutal strike on the Zaytun area in the east of Gaza, where 10 people, including a woman and a child, were killed, Gaza Civil Defense said.

A building for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in the Near East also came under attack.

In an area west of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, a group of civilians inside the UNRWA club was also targeted.

The Zionist regime’s strikes on Wednesday were the third major escalation since the ceasefire agreement came into effect.  The two previous major strikes were on October 19 and 28.

Authorities in Gaza have reported at least 400 Israeli violations of the US-brokered ceasefire.

Hamas called on the US mediators to exert “immediate, serious pressure” on the Tel Aviv regime to “respect the ceasefire and halt the aggression against our people.”

Since the Zionist regime launched the genocidal war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, nearly 70,000 Palestinians have been martyred, mostly women and children.