by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Chief International Correspondent

JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – Hamas-run health authorities say more than two dozen people were killed Saturday in Gaza as Israel carried out its heaviest airstrikes in weeks.

Israel’s military announced it targeted commanders and sites belonging to Palestinian “terrorist organizations,” Hamas and its ally Islamic Jihad, in response to what it described as a breach of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire understanding reached last October amid the continuing war in Gaza.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced they struck military infrastructure in Gaza. “In response to the violation of the ceasefire agreement yesterday (Friday), in which eight terrorists were identified exiting the underground terror infrastructure in eastern Rafah, the IDF and [Israel Security Agency] ISA have, thus far, struck four commanders and additional terrorists from the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist organizations across the Gaza Strip,” the IDF said in a statement monitored by Worthy News.

The “targets” of the operation were a weapons storage facility, a weapons manufacturing site, and two launch sites belonging to Hamas in the central Gaza Strip, the IDF added. “The terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip systematically violate international law, brutally exploiting civilian infrastructure and the Gazan population as human shields for terrorist activities,” the military said.

ISRAEL SAYS STRIKES FOLLOWED TUNNEL ACTIVITY IN RAFAH

The IDF said eight militants were identified exiting underground tunnel infrastructure in eastern Rafah on Friday, prompting Israeli forces to respond with airstrikes and follow-up operations.

Israeli troops later apprehended one of the fleeing suspects, whom the military identified as a key commander in Hamas’s Eastern Rafah Battalion, officials added. “IDF troops, together with the ISA, continue searches and additional activities in the area in order to locate and eliminate the additional terrorists,” the military said.

Palestinian health officials linked to Hamas said the strikes hit a Hamas-run police station as well as nearby houses and tents, killing at least 30 people, including several children, while numerous others were wounded in the attacks.

The death toll was difficult to verify independently, and the Hamas-run Health Ministry does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its casualty figures.

Hamas, which retains influence over parts of Gaza, accused Israel of violating the ceasefire. The group did not immediately confirm whether any of its members were among those killed in Saturday’s strikes.

MEDIATORS STRUGGLE TO MAINTAIN FRAGILE GAZA TRUCE

The renewed escalation comes as international mediators have struggled to maintain fragile ceasefire efforts amid tensions over hostages, aid access, and control of border crossings.

Witnesses in Gaza City described chaotic scenes as residents searched through rubble for survivors, while emergency workers transported casualties to overcrowded hospitals struggling with shortages after months of fighting.

In a separate incident later Saturday, the IDF said it struck what it called a Hezbollah militant in the Markaba area of southern Lebanon, also describing it as a response to a ceasefire violation along Israel’s northern frontier.

The Gaza war began after Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, in which Israeli authorities say about  1,200 people were killed and more than 250 taken hostage.

Israel’s subsequent military campaign has devastated large areas of Gaza, with Hamas-linked Palestinian officials reporting tens of thousands of deaths, figures that cannot be independently verified.

Despite periodic ceasefire efforts, violence has repeatedly flared, raising fears of a broader regional conflict.

Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.

Latest Stories from Worthy News