The strikes, the deadliest since the ceasefire began on Oct 10, marked the most serious challenge to the tenuous truce to date

Israel said it struck an arms dump in Gaza on Wednesday, hours after the deadliest night of bombing since the start of a US-brokered truce, warning it would continue to operate to take out perceived threats.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the military to launch immediate and “powerful strikes” on Gaza, following reports that Hamas had opened fire on Israeli forces in the south of the enclave. The decision marks a sharp escalation and puts further strain on the fragile US-brokered ceasefire currently in place.

Israel said on Wednesday it was still committed to the U.S.-backed ceasefire in Gaza, despite its retaliation for the death of an Israeli soldier with day-long bombardment that Gaza health authorities said killed 104 people. Even as the military affirmed it still intended to uphold the truce in the Palestinian…

The strikes, the deadliest since the ceasefire began on Oct. 10, marked the most serious challenge to the tenuous truce to date.

The World Health Organization (WHO) led the medical evacuation of 41 critical patients and 145 companions out of Gaza - a first since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas on 10 October.

The US President defended Benjamin Netanyahu’s ordered strikes, saying Israel “should hit back” after an Israeli soldier was killed.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the military to prepare "powerful strikes" in Gaza on Tuesday, while Hamas announced it would delay returning a hostage's body, pushing a U.S.-brokered ceasefire to the brink of collapse and threatening a return to all-out war.

"Israel will respond with great force," Katz said