Israel killed more than 100 people, including 46 children, in attacks late on Tuesday and on Wednesday. Medical sources told Al Jazeera the strikes hit all over Gaza.

This adds to dozens of previous ceasefire violations with a rocky outlook ahead. Let’s take a look at where things stand:

What’s the latest?
The Israeli military said by noon on Wednesday that it was returning to the ceasefire in line with instructions from the political leadership but remained ready to attack again if necessary.

It said it hit more than 30 targets in the besieged enclave, claiming that the targets were “terrorists in command positions within terror organizations”.

But as more residential buildings were flattened by the Israeli bombs, at least 18 members of the same family in central Gaza, including children, parents and grandparents, were among the victims.

Civil Defence teams once again had to use small tools and their hands to dig in the rubble of bombed areas to search for survivors and the dead. Several tents belonging to displaced Palestinian families were also targeted.

According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, at least 68,643 people have been killed and 170,655 wounded since the start of Israel’s genocidal war in October 2023.

What was Israel’s justification?
On Tuesday, Israel announced that the body of a captive transferred from Gaza by Hamas through the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) did not match one of the 13 to be handed over as part of the ceasefire.

Israeli forensic analysts determined that the remains belonged to Ofir Tzarfati, who was taken to Gaza during the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, and whose partial remains were recovered in November of the same year.
Israeli officials reacted furiously, especially far-right ministers in the coalition government who are against stopping the war on Gaza and want Hamas “destroyed”. An organisation run by the families of the captives also expressed outrage and demanded action.

A short time later, the Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s armed wing, said it would hand over the remains of an Israeli captive at 8pm (18:00 GMT), but it held off after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered “powerful strikes” on Gaza.

Heavy gunfire and explosions were also heard in the southern city of Rafah. Israel alleged this was an attack by Hamas fighters, something Hamas rejected.

Israel also accused the Palestinian group of “staging” the recovery of a captive’s remains after showing footage purportedly of Hamas fighters burying a body before calling in the ICRC.

The ICRC said its personnel “were not aware that a deceased person had been placed there prior to their arrival”.

What’s in the ceasefire?
As part of the agreement, which entered into force on October 10, Hamas handed over all remaining 20 living captives held in Gaza within several days.

The group has also handed over the remains of 15 deceased Israeli captives as part of the deal with 13 others remaining unrecovered or undelivered.

Israel has allowed some humanitarian aid into Gaza, but supplies have been well below the 600 trucks a day specified in the ceasefire, a level that is required to help the famine-stricken population.

Israel has also prevented tents and mobile homes from entering the enclave but has let some heavy machinery enter to search for the remains of its captives.

After all the remains are handed over, a second phase of the ceasefire could potentially enter into force, allowing the deployment of an international stabilization force and the reconstruction of Gaza.

Israeli officials have repeatedly stressed that they will not allow the formation of a sovereign Palestinian state and have been advancing with a plan to illegally annex the occupied West Bank despite international criticism.
What is Hamas saying?
Hamas has accused Israel of fabricating “false pretexts” to renew aggression in Gaza.

Before the attacks over the past day, Hamas said Israel had carried out at least 125 violations.

Since October 10, the Health Ministry in Gaza said, at least 211 Palestinians have been killed and 597 wounded in Israeli attacks while 482 bodies have been recovered.
Hamas has also accused Israel of obstructing efforts to recover the bodies of the captives while using the same bodies as an excuse to claim noncompliance.

It pointed out that Israel has prevented enough heavy machinery from entering Gaza to recover the remains and has prevented search teams from accessing key areas.

The Qassam Brigades said its fighters have recovered the bodies of two more deceased captives, Amiram Cooper and Sahar Baruch, during search operations conducted on Tuesday.

Hamas and other Palestinian factions have said they are prepared to hand over administration of Gaza to a technocratic Palestinian body while maintaining that armed resistance is a result of decades-long occupation and apartheid by Israel.

What does this mean for Gaza’s civilians?
Since the start of the war, civilians have been the main casualties of Israel’s war on Gaza.
They have been disproportionately targeted, as they were in the latest overnight attacks, and have also seen Gaza’s infrastructure and means of living destroyed by bombs and invading Israeli forces.

Because nowhere in Gaza is fully safe, Palestinians underwent another day of panic that the Israeli attacks could be extended.

Israeli warplanes and reconnaissance aircraft continued to hover over the enclave.

What happens now?
The US has repeatedly expressed support for Israel despite its ceasefire violations, emphasising Israel’s right to defend itself.

President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the ceasefire “is not in jeopardy” despite the strikes.

Mediator Qatar has previously condemned violations of the agreement and accused Israel of undermining its implementation. But along with Egypt, it has worked to ensure the deal stays alive.

By Maziar Motamedi

A child, excited by the simple things, and curious about the world around him.

Muhammad came home, messed around with some olives, and then went out again to play football. This time, the fourth-grader didn’t come back.

‘Muhammad was gone’
At the grocery store, Alia received a phone call.

“It was my uncle Ahmad calling, asking if there were any clashes [with Israeli forces] in our area,” she recounted. “I screamed unconsciously. ‘My son Muhammad, my son Muhammad!’ I don’t know why, but a mother’s instincts are always right.”

Muhammad’s eldest sister, 14-year-old Mais, heard the gunfire in the evening and rushed outside.

Both Mais and Alia were originally told their boy had been injured.

Alia headed for the local hospital and was told that her boy had been hit by a bullet.

“They said his condition was good and that they would remove the bullet,” Alia said. But then she started hearing whispers about his pulse stopping. She wanted to see Muhammad, but wasn’t allowed in the operating theatre, as surgeons desperately tried to save the boy’s life.
Then Alia heard the heart monitor give a long, piercing beep. Muhammad was dead, killed by Israeli forces operating in his village.

“Muhammad was gone,” Alia said. “And with him, everything good.”
Lethal force
Commenting on Muhammad’s killing by Israeli forces, the United Nations Human Rights Office in the occupied Palestinian territory said it was “appalled”. The UN office added that Muhammed was the 1,001st Palestinian to be killed by Israeli forces or settlers in the occupied West Bank since October 7, 2023, including 213 children.

The UN said that the youngest child killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank was two-year-old Laila Khatib, who was shot in her home in Jenin in January during an Israeli raid.

“International standards require Israel to ensure an independent and effective investigation of all incidents where individuals have been killed in violent or suspicious circumstances,” the UN office said. “The large numbers of Palestinians killed in this period, the prevalence of the unlawful use of force, the enabling and support for settler violence and the endemic impunity for crimes committed against Palestinians, all suggest that Israeli [forces] use lethal and potentially lethal force as a tool to control and repress Palestinians, rather than as the last resort to restore and maintain public order and civil life for the Palestinians.”

Muhammad and his friends are believed to have run when they saw Israeli military vehicles in their vicinity, before Israeli soldiers began shooting.

An initial statement from the Israeli military said that its forces were responding to suspects throwing rocks – although no local reports indicate that had happened, or that Muhammad and his friends were involved. Israeli media have since reported that a preliminary military investigation had found that the shooting “deviated from the rules of engagement”, and that there had been “improper use of weaponry”.

‘A huge void’
Israeli soldiers rarely face repercussions for carrying out killings of Palestinians in the West Bank, with towns and villages like al-Rihiya instead left to pick up the pieces after tragedies like Muhammad’s death.

He was the third of five siblings – aside from Mais, the eldest, there is Jaddi, who is 12, six-year-old Sila, and four-year-old Elias.

Muhammad’s absence is heartbreaking for them all.

The white robe he wore for Friday prayers still lies neatly folded beside his bed, next to a small bottle of perfume. His books are stacked where he left them.

“This is where Muhammad slept,” Alia said, as she pointed to the empty space. “They killed his childhood.”

His family are struggling to deal with Muhammad’s death in their own ways. Sila refuses to go back to school – her brother always walked alongside her.

Mais said that she collapsed when she heard that Muhammad had died.

“Muhammad wasn’t just a brother, he was my friend,” she said. “When he came home from school, he would ask me to tutor him, and if I got busy, he would get angry and say ‘teach me first’. I was afraid of sleeping in the dark, so he would stay with me until I fell asleep, then he would go to sleep.”

The bag Muhammad received on his final school day still hangs on a nail near his bed.

His father, Bahjat, finds himself walking by the bag and around the room, touching his bed, breathing in the scent of his clothes.

“His passing left a huge void,” said Bahjat. “I see him in every corner of the house: at the dining table, in his study and the play area.”

“I still can’t believe he’s gone,” Mais said. “I imagine him in heaven, playing, laughing, and having fun just like he used to. I still can’t believe he’s gone … and I never will.”The white robe he wore for Friday prayers still lies neatly folded beside his bed, next to a small bottle of perfume. His books are stacked where he left them.

“This is where Muhammad slept,” Alia said, as she pointed to the empty space. “They killed his childhood.”

His family are struggling to deal with Muhammad’s death in their own ways. Sila refuses to go back to school – her brother always walked alongside her.

Mais said that she collapsed when she heard that Muhammad had died.

“Muhammad wasn’t just a brother, he was my friend,” she said. “When he came home from school, he would ask me to tutor him, and if I got busy, he would get angry and say ‘teach me first’. I was afraid of sleeping in the dark, so he would stay with me until I fell asleep, then he would go to sleep.”

The bag Muhammad received on his final school day still hangs on a nail near his bed.

His father, Bahjat, finds himself walking by the bag and around the room, touching his bed, breathing in the scent of his clothes.

“His passing left a huge void,” said Bahjat. “I see him in every corner of the house: at the dining table, in his study and the play area.”

“I still can’t believe he’s gone,” Mais said. “I imagine him in heaven, playing, laughing, and having fun just like he used to. I still can’t believe he’s gone … and I never will.”
The white robe he wore for Friday prayers still lies neatly folded beside his bed, next to a small bottle of perfume. His books are stacked where he left them.

“This is where Muhammad slept,” Alia said, as she pointed to the empty space. “They killed his childhood.”

His family are struggling to deal with Muhammad’s death in their own ways. Sila refuses to go back to school – her brother always walked alongside her.

Mais said that she collapsed when she heard that Muhammad had died.

“Muhammad wasn’t just a brother, he was my friend,” she said. “When he came home from school, he would ask me to tutor him, and if I got busy, he would get angry and say ‘teach me first’. I was afraid of sleeping in the dark, so he would stay with me until I fell asleep, then he would go to sleep.”

The bag Muhammad received on his final school day still hangs on a nail near his bed.

His father, Bahjat, finds himself walking by the bag and around the room, touching his bed, breathing in the scent of his clothes.

“His passing left a huge void,” said Bahjat. “I see him in every corner of the house: at the dining table, in his study and the play area.”

“I still can’t believe he’s gone,” Mais said. “I imagine him in heaven, playing, laughing, and having fun just like he used to. I still can’t believe he’s gone … and I never will.”

More than 39,000 children in Gaza have lost one or both of their parents, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics announced in April. Among them are about 17,000 children who have been deprived of both parents since October 2023, according to the bureau.

In the ruins of Gaza City, one couple is now raising 36 grandchildren whose parents were killed by Israel. They now face the myriad of daily challenges of looking after and protecting them.

The Aliwa family is among those who lost generations. Since their five sons were all killed during Israel’s two-year assault on Gaza, Hamed and Rida Aliwa are raising the orphaned grandchildren.

“These children need care,” 60-year-old Rida told Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum in Gaza City. “They need food, water and special attention. It’s a huge responsibility that brings me immense stress.”

Each of these children has experienced the pain and suffering of Israel’s two-year war on Gaza; they have learned to share a single loaf of bread and fall asleep to the sound of explosions.

Every morning, Hamed and Rida get up and face the day, not for themselves, but for those who now call them mother and father.

Rida is unable to hide the grief of losing her sons, “I would be lying if I said I didn’t miss them. I miss them deeply. My heart aches for them. My sons meant everything to me — they were the reason I kept going. Now, I’m taking care of their injured children.”
At least 20,000 children are among the dead — one child killed every hour for the past 24 months. UNICEF estimated that 3,000 to 4,000 children in Gaza have lost one or more limbs

Every day for the Aliwas is a wrenching struggle to find food, to fetch clean water and to keep the little ones safe.

“The basic elements of life are almost impossible to find,” Hamed Aliwa told Al Jazeera.

They have no guarantees, no permanent shelter, no certainty of what perils tomorrow will bring.

A United States-brokered ceasefire took effect in Gaza on October 10. Since the truce began, about 473,000 people have returned to northern Gaza, where they face widespread property destruction and critical shortages of necessities, including food and water, according to the United Nations.

“We live under the constant sound of drones that keep us awake all night, and we are scared that the war could start again,” Hamed said.
by al jazeera staff

“Israel has received, through the Red Cross, the coffin of a missing hostage who was handed over to the [Israeli military] and Shin Bet forces inside the Gaza Strip,” a statement from the prime minister’s office said.
The military and Shin Bet later confirmed the remains were back in Israel, and were being sent to “the National Institute for Forensic Medicine, where identification procedures will be carried out.”

A senior Hamas official told AFP that the group’s armed wing had handed over the captive’s remains to the Red Cross after receiving them from the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades – the armed wing of the Marxist-Leninist movement the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).

A statement from the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades said: “In fulfillment of our national responsibility, we… announce that we are handing over the body of one of the Zionist soldiers in implementation of the terms of the agreement.”

Prior to this handover, Hamas had returned 12 bodies of hostages to Israel, out of the 28 it had pledged to return as part of the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip.

The Rafah border post is the only crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip: a strategic gateway to the outside world.

In 2007, Israel imposed an air, land, and sea blockade on Gaza.

Human Rights Watch says the closure of the Rafah crossing has devastated Gaza’s economy, contributed to the fragmentation of the Palestinian people, and enabled Israel’s system of apartheid – and that was long before Israel’s devastating war.

And despite the United States-brokered ceasefire, Israel has threatened to keep the crossing shut because of delays in returning the remains of its captives.

So, if and when the crossing reopens, how will it operate and who will be in charge?

Presenter: Dareen Abughaida

Guests:

Mustafa Barghouti – Secretary-General at the Palestinian National Initiative

Tahani Mustafa – Visiting Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations

Rob Geist Pinfold – Lecturer of International Security at King’s College London

By Inside Story

Witnesses reported heavy bombardment in Gaza’s largest urban center, as Israel Katz warned the military was tightening its encirclement of the city.

For the latest updates on the Israel-Palestine conflict, visit our dedicated page.

“This is the last opportunity for Gaza residents who wish to do so to move south and leave Hamas operatives isolated in Gaza City,” Katz posted on X, adding that those who remained would “be considered terrorists and terrorist supporters.”

Katz said the military had captured the Netzarim corridor in the central Gaza Strip through to the western coast, a move he said cut the north of Gaza off form the south.

He added anyone leaving Gaza City for the south would have to pass through Israeli military checkpoints.

The announcement came hours after the military said it was closing the last remaining route for residents of southern Gaza to access the north.

On the ground in Gaza City, 60-year-old Rabah al-Halabi, who lives in a tent on the premises of Al-Shifa Hospital, described relentless explosions.

“I will not leave because the situation in Gaza City is no different from the situation in the southern Gaza Strip,” he told AFP by telephone.

“All areas are dangerous, the bombing is everywhere, and displacement is terrifying and humiliating,” he said.

“We are waiting for death, or perhaps relief from God and for the truce to come.”

‘Ceasefire at any cost’

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Wednesday said that intensified military operations in Gaza City had forced it to temporarily suspend its activities there, warning that “tens of thousands… face harrowing humanitarian conditions.”

It came days after medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said it had been forced to suspend its work there because of Israel’s offensive.

UN agencies and some aid organizations still operate in Gaza City.

Meanwhile, Hamas mulled a peace plan put forward by Trump and backed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu which calls for a ceasefire, the release of hostages within 72 hours, Hamas’s disarmament and a gradual Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

A Palestinian source close to Hamas’s leaders told AFP that “no final decision” had been made and that “the movement will likely need two to three days.”

“Hamas wants to amend some of the items such as the disarmament clause and the expulsion of Hamas,” the source said.

They added that Hamas had informed mediators of the “need to provide international guarantees for a full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and guarantees that Israel will not violate a ceasefire through assassinations inside or outside Gaza.”

Gaza’s civil defense agency reported that Israeli strikes killed at least 13 people in Gaza City on Wednesday.

When asked by AFP, the Israeli military said it was looking into the reports.

Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing swathes of the territory mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defense and the Israeli military.

Fadel al-Jadba, 26, said he would not leave Gaza City.

He said tanks were in the Tal al-Hawa neighborhood and that he “would not be surprised if they advance into Al-Rimal,” where he was sheltering.

“We want a ceasefire at any cost because we are frustrated, exhausted, and find no one in the world standing with us.”

‘Two opinions’ in Hamas

Trump told reporters on Tuesday that Hamas had “about three or four days” to accept his 20-point Gaza plan, later warning that the movement would “pay in hell” if it refused.

A source familiar with negotiations taking place in the Qatari capital Doha told AFP that “two opinions exist within Hamas.”

“The first supports unconditional approval, as the priority is a ceasefire under Trump’s guarantees, with mediators ensuring Israel implements the plan,” the source said.

“The second has serious reservations regarding key clauses, rejecting disarmament and the expulsion of any Palestinian from Gaza. They favor conditional approval with clarifications reflecting Hamas’s and the resistance factions’ demands,” the source added.

Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 66,148 Palestinians, according to health ministry figures in the territory that the United Nations considers reliable.

These figures do not specify the number of fighters killed, but indicate that more than half of the dead are women and children.

Israel is pounding Gaza City with some of the heaviest strikes in two years of war, according to witnesses, as it pushes ahead with an offensive to seize the territory’s largest urban centre.

Avichay Adraee, Arabic-language spokesman for the Israeli military, warned Gaza City’s beleaguered population on Friday that it would be deploying “unprecedented force” and told them to “take this opportunity and join the hundreds of thousands” moving south on al-Rashid coastal road – now the only permitted escape route.

The Palestinian Civil Defence said at least 50 multistorey buildings have been destroyed in recent weeks as Israeli forces press their assault on the city, all amid a wave of forced displacements.

Some neighbourhoods have faced near-total destruction. In Gaza City’s Zeitoun area alone, more than 1,500 homes and buildings have been destroyed since early August, leaving parts of the district with no buildings left standing.

written by Mohammed Haddad and Mohamed A. Hussein

Israeli Army Radio said that some 40,000 reservists would report for duty on Tuesday for the Gaza City offensive. The military said it was readying logistically for the intake of reservists ahead of the offensive.

For the latest updates on the Israel-Palestine conflict, visit our dedicated page.

Israel’s security cabinet, chaired by Netanyahu, approved a plan last month to expand the campaign in Gaza with the aim of taking Gaza City, where Israeli forces waged fierce urban warfare with Hamas in the early stages of the war. Israel currently holds about 75 percent of the Gaza Strip.

A security cabinet meeting late on Sunday included angry exchanges between Netanyahu and his ministers, who want to push ahead with the Gaza City offensive, and military chief Eyal Zamir, who has urged the politicians to reach a ceasefire deal.

Zamir said the campaign will endanger hostages and put further strain on the already over-stretched army, according to four ministers and two military officials present at the meeting.

This follows similar exchanges between Zamir and Netanyahu’s cabinet last month. Netanyahu said on August 20 that he gave the instruction to speed up the timetable for taking what he describes as Hamas’ last bastion.

But on August 21, in discussions to approve the battle plans, the military again warned against hostages being endangered and said it could not begin the campaign for at least two months, according to a source in Netanyahu’s circle and a defense official.

The military’s main reason was that more time was needed for humanitarian efforts. But surveys have shown a substantial proportion of reservists are unhappy with the cabinet’s plans, with some having taken the unusual step of openly accusing the government of lacking a cohesive strategy for Gaza, a post-war plan for the enclave or clear victory metrics.

“I don’t feel like I’m doing anything that really applies significant pressure to have Hamas release the hostages,” one combat reservist who has been serving in Gaza since October 7 told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak publicly.

Israeli strikes

At least 86 people were killed in Israeli strikes across Gaza, and scores more were wounded in the past 24 hours, local health authorities said.

Three separate airstrikes killed 26 people in total in houses in the Gaza City suburbs, where the Israeli forces stepped up aerial and ground bombardment in preparation for expanding the fighting.

Outside Gaza City’s Al-Shifa hospital, white plastic body bags with corpses were laid out on the street spattered with blood. Crowds wailed for slain relatives.

“We fled (our homes) with nothing. They went to get clothes and food from their homes, to bring clothes for their children and food for themselves… and Look now! They came back as martyrs!” said Nasr Nasr, a relative of some of the dead.

Hundreds of mourners carried bodies through the streets. Others stood and prayed around a group of five bodies in shrouds, including three tiny children.

The Israeli army’s Arabic service spokesperson told residents of Gaza there would be better humanitarian services in the south, as the army prepared to expand the Gaza City offensive.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment but it has stated that its forces are combating fighters on the outskirts of Gaza City, destroying tunnels and militant infrastructure and seizing weapons.

Other deaths reported on Tuesday included five people killed while waiting in a food line in the south, nine killed in a strike on an apartment, and seven killed by Israeli tank fire.

Thirteen more Palestinians, including three children, died of malnutrition and starvation in Gaza in the past 24 hours, the territory’s health ministry said on Tuesday, raising officially reported deaths from such causes to at least 361, including 130 children, the vast majority in recent weeks.

Israel disputes the hunger fatality figures given by the health ministry of Gaza’s government, arguing that deaths were due to other medical causes.

The war in Gaza began on October 7, 2023, when gunmen led by Hamas attacked southern Israeli communities near the border, killing some 1,200 people, mainly civilians, and taking 251 hostages including children into Gaza, according to Israeli figures.

Over 62,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s air and ground war in Gaza since then, according to Gaza health officials, who do not say how many were militants but have said most of those killed have been women and children.

Ceasefire talks that would see a pause in the fighting ended in a deadlock in July.

Israeli authorities believe that of the 48 remaining captives, 20 hostages are still alive.

Israeli authorities believe that of the 48 remaining captives, 20 hostages are still alive.