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 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.

 

Members of the Palestinian Red Crescent comfort one another during the funeral of a colleague who was reportedly killed in an Israeli strike on a camp housing displaced Palestinians, in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on February 4, 2026. Gazan health officials said Israeli air strikes on February 4, killed 21 people in the Palestinian territory, with Israel's military saying it struck after gunfire targeting its troops wounded an officer. Despite a 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. (Photo by Bashar Taleb / AFP)
Members of the Palestinian Red Crescent comfort one another during the funeral of a colleague who was reportedly killed in an Israeli strike on a camp housing displaced Palestinians, in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on February 4, 2026. Gazan health officials said Israeli air strikes on February 4, killed 21 people in the Palestinian territory, with Israel's military saying it struck after gunfire targeting its troops wounded an officer. Despite a 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. (Photo by Bashar Taleb / AFP)

The Israeli military said it had launched strikes after "fire opened 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