The Gaza health ministry says Israeli strikes on Nov. 20 killed at least 33 Palestinians and wounded 88, including 12 children and eight women. Officials cautioned casualty totals may rise as rescuers reach people still trapped under rubble. Israel says it struck Hamas targets after fighters opened fire on its forces, calling the actions a violation of the cease-fire; Hamas called the strikes a "dangerous escalation" and appealed for U.S. pressure on Israel. The flare-up follows a U.N. Security Council endorsement of a U.S. 20-point plan for Gaza reconstruction that Hamas opposes.
At least 33 killed, 88 wounded in Gaza after Israeli strikes as cease-fire frays
The Gaza health ministry says Israeli strikes on Nov. 20 killed at least 33 Palestinians and wounded 88, including 12 children and eight women. Officials cautioned casualty totals may rise as rescuers reach people still trapped under rubble. Israel says it struck Hamas targets after fighters opened fire on its forces, calling the actions a violation of the cease-fire; Hamas called the strikes a "dangerous escalation" and appealed for U.S. pressure on Israel. The flare-up follows a U.N. Security Council endorsement of a U.S. 20-point plan for Gaza reconstruction that Hamas opposes.
06:48 PM, 11/20/2025Conflict
Nov. 20 — Gaza authorities reported that Israeli strikes over the past 24 hours killed at least 33 Palestinians and wounded 88, marking one of the deadliest bursts of violence since a U.S.-brokered cease-fire took effect on Oct. 10.
The Hamas-run health ministry said the dead included 12 children and eight women, and that the 88 injured were receiving treatment in hospitals across the Gaza Strip. Officials warned the toll could rise because a number of people remain trapped beneath rubble and on roads where ambulance and civil-defence teams have not yet been able to reach them.
Both sides traded blame for the violence. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said its strikes targeted Hamas positions after fighters from the group opened fire on Israeli forces in the south of the enclave on Wednesday, an act the military described as a breach of the cease-fire.
"This action constitutes a violation of the ceasefire agreement. No IDF injuries were reported. In response, the Israel Defense Forces began striking Hamas terrorist targets across the Gaza Strip," the IDF said.
Hamas condemned the strikes as a "dangerous escalation," accused Israel of jeopardizing the truce and appealed to Washington to pressure Israel to halt the attacks and uphold the agreement.
Gaza's Civil Defence agency reported heavy losses in several locations: 13 people killed in Khan Younis, where the IDF said the initial shooting occurred, and about 10 killed in an attack on a Hamas administrative office building in Gaza City. Civil Defence spokesman Mahmoud Bassal said a drone strike in eastern Gaza City killed one person and wounded others after hitting a group standing on a street corner, and an additional person was killed when an IDF tank shelled a nearby house.
The flare-up came two days after the U.N. Security Council endorsed a U.S. 20-point plan that helped produce the cease-fire. Monday's 13-0 vote backed a draft resolution supporting reconstruction efforts that would see new governance and security arrangements in Gaza. The plan—opposed by Hamas—envisions an international security force, a two-year transitional government or "Board of Peace" and a reconstituted Palestinian police force trained with regional partners. Hamas has rejected the measures and said it will not disarm.
Rescue teams continued to search for survivors amid damage across the strip as international officials warned of the risk that renewed fighting could undo fragile progress toward a longer-term truce and reconstruction.