Israeli strikes kill 17 Palestinians, mostly women and children as Gaza ceasefire crumbles

Israeli strikes in Gaza killed at least 19 Palestinians, most of them women and children, by midday on Wednesday, according to hospital officials. Israel pledged to continue strikes, saying that it was responding to a militant attack on Israeli soldiers that seriously wounded one.Among the Palestinians killed were five children, including a 5-month-old and a baby just 10 days old; seven women; and a paramedic, hospital officials said. They are the latest Palestinians in Gaza to die since a ceasefire deal, which has been punctuated by deadly Israeli strikes, came into effect on October 10, 2025.The escalating Palestinian death toll has rocked the US-backed truce and caused Palestinians in the strip to say it does not feel like the war has ended.“The genocidal war against our people in the Gaza Strip continues,” said Dr Mohamed Abu Selmiya, director of Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital, in a Facebook post. “Where is the ceasefire? Where are the mediators?”Deadly strikes have continued despite ceasefire dealThe deal attempted to halt a more than two-year war between Israel and Hamas. While the heaviest fighting has subsided, it has been marred by repeated flare-ups of violence.