Israeli strikes in Gaza kill at least 100, local health officials say

Tel Aviv: Israeli strikes killed at least 100 people across the Gaza Strip overnight, local health officials said, in what appeared to be the deadliest day since a ceasefire was agreed between Israel and Hamas three weeks ago.

The strikes began late Tuesday after the Israeli government accused Hamas of violating the truce by failing to return the bodies of dead hostages and attacking Israeli forces in Rafah in southern Gaza. The Israeli military said one of its soldiers, Master Sgt. Yona Efraim, was killed in the Rafah attack.

On Wednesday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said "dozens of Hamas commanders" were killed in strikes overnight. The military said the ceasefire resumed at 10 a.m. local time.

Health officials in Gaza said the Israeli strikes killed at least 100 people in the enclave.

Munir al-Bursh, director-general of Gaza's Health Ministry, whose data does not distinguish between civilians and combatants, said 35 children were among those killed. He said hospitals in the enclave "are still facing a severe shortage of resources and a significant lack of medicines."

Gaza's Civil Defense emergency rescue service also said that at least 100 people had been killed.

The strikes came after a week of escalating tensions over delays to the exchange of deceased captives between Israel and Hamas, a key plank of the fragile ceasefire deal that went into effect this month.

Tensions boiled over Tuesday when gunmen in Gaza attacked a group of soldiers in southern Gaza. The military said militants had opened fire on Israeli troops who were dismantling a Hamas tunnel in an area under Israeli military control in eastern Gaza.

Also on Tuesday, the Israeli military released a drone video that it said showed Hamas was trying "to create a false impression" about its efforts to locate deceased hostages.

Hamas denied involvement in the Rafah attack and has insisted it is acting in good faith to locate and return the remains of hostages it took from Israel during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack that ignited the war.

The drone footage released by the Israeli military showed Hamas members appearing to fake the discovery of a deceased hostage as observers from the Red Cross watched. The aid group said its staff was unaware that a body had been moved before their arrival. "It is unacceptable that a fake recovery was staged," the Red Cross said in a statement.

When asked about the video Tuesday, Hamas referred The New York Times to an earlier statement that accused Israel of creating false pretexts for launching military action.

After the Israeli government announced its decision to strike Gaza, David Mencer, a spokesperson for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, cited both the shooting and the events depicted in the video as violations of the ceasefire.