Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip — Israeli strikes on Wednesday morning killed at least 19 Palestinians in Gaza, hospital officials said, with many of the victims women and children. Israeli forces described the strikes as retaliation after militants opened fire and seriously wounded an Israeli reservist; Israel also said it would continue operations in response to what it called ceasefire violations.
Casualties and Local Reports. Hospital sources reported that the dead included five children — among them a 5-month-old and a 10-day-old infant — seven women and a Palestinian Red Crescent paramedic. Local hospitals that received bodies cited differing counts for the day: Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said at least 21 Palestinians were killed on Wednesday and that 556 have died from Israeli fire since a U.S.-brokered ceasefire took effect on Oct. 10, 2025.
Incident Details. Shifa Hospital reported that at least 11 people were killed when Israeli troops fired on a building in the Tuffah neighborhood of northern Gaza; many of the victims were members of the same family. Nasser Hospital said a strike on a family tent in Khan Younis killed three people, including a 12-year-old boy. Shifa also reported three deaths from tank shelling in the Zaytoun neighborhood, and a field hospital run by the Palestinian Red Crescent said a strike on a tent in Muwasi, Khan Younis, killed at least two people and wounded five. Among the dead was Hussein Hassan Hussein al-Semieri, a paramedic who was on duty at the time.
Relatives of Palestinians, including children, killed in Israeli artillery shelling in the southern Gaza area of Khan Younis amid a ceasefire, bring their bodies from the morgue of Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis for funeral processions, Feb. 4, 2026. / Credit: Hani Alshaer/Anadolu/Getty
Official Statements and Wider Context. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) issued a statement saying that armored units and Israeli Air Force aircraft “conducted strikes in the area” after troops were fired upon in northern Gaza, calling the attack a “blatant violation of the current ceasefire agreement.” An Israeli military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press that strikes would continue. Mediators condemned the renewed violence, and Hamas called the strikes violations of the ceasefire.
Overall Toll and Disputes. Since the start of the conflict, Gaza’s health ministry reports more than 71,800 Palestinian deaths; it does not distinguish fighters from civilians in that total. The ministry — part of the Hamas-led government — maintains casualty records that U.N. agencies and independent experts generally regard as reliable, though many experts say the true toll could be higher because bodies remain under rubble. Israel disputes the ministry’s overall tally and has not released its own civilian casualty figures for Gaza since the campaign began following Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
“The genocidal war against our people in the Gaza Strip continues,” wrote Dr. Mohamed Abu Selmiya, director of Shifa Hospital, on Facebook. “Where is the ceasefire? Where are the mediators?”
This latest exchange of fire has tested the fragile, U.S.-brokered truce and left many Gaza residents saying the war feels far from over.
