Israeli strikes kill 24, say Gaza health officials
A mourner reacts during the funeral of Palestinians killed in what the Gaza health ministry says was Israeli fire near a distribution center in Rafah, at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, June 16, 2025. PHOTO:REUTERS
Gazan health officials said Israeli air strikes on Wednesday killed 24 people, with Israel's military saying the attacks were in response to one of its officers being wounded by enemy gunfire.
Despite an ongoing US-brokered truce entering its second phase last month, violence has continued in the Gaza Strip, with Israel and Hamas accusing each other of breaching the agreement.
The latest bloodshed came after Israel partly reopened the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, the only gateway to the Palestinian territory that does not pass through Israel.
The Gazan health ministry, which operates under Hamas authority, said that 21 people were killed, including three children, in a series of strikes, with at least 38 others wounded.
The territory's civil defence agency said that two more people were killed and eight injured in a strike on a tent in the centre of the Strip, and another person was killed in a strike that hit a group of civilians west of Gaza City.
The Israeli military said it had launched strikes after "terrorists opened fire on troops" Wednesday, seriously wounding an officer.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said it was "outraged" by the killing of an on-duty paramedic, Hussein Hassan Hussein Al-Samiri, in a bombardment in the southern Al-Mawasi area.
The Israeli military said one strike in southern Gaza had targeted a Hamas platoon commander named Bilal Abu Assi who led an assault on a kibbutz during the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the Gaza war.
It added it was aware of claims that "several uninvolved civilians, including a medical staff member, were hit in the strike" and that it had taken steps "to mitigate harm to civilians as much as possible".
In Gaza City, Abu Mohammed Haboush said "we were sleeping when suddenly shells and gunfire rained down on us".
"Young children were martyred, my son and my nephew were among the dead. We lost many young men," he said.
AFP images showed mourners offering prayers in the compound of Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, where several bodies wrapped in white shrouds were laid out.
Three bodies were brought to Nasser Hospital after Israeli strikes hit homes and tents housing displaced Palestinians in the southern Khan Yunis area, the civil defence agency said.