Gaza: Israeli strikes kill at least 100, including dozens of children

by · UPI

Oct. 29 (UPI) -- At least 104 people were killed in Gaza, including dozens of children, in a wave of strikes by Israel Defense Forces in retaliation for the killing of an Israeli soldier.

The Israeli strikes across Gaza on Tuesday night hit targets in Rafah and Khan Younis in the south and Gaza City and Beit Lahia in the north, as well as Bureij and Nuseirat in the center of the strip. The airstrikes were ongoing for more than 14 hours in response to the death of the Israeli solider in an area of Rafah on the Israeli side of the so-called yellow cease-fire line.

The Gaza Health Ministry in Gaza said 46 children and 20 women were among the dead and 253 people were injured. It was the deadliest attack since a cease-fire went into effect, The Washington Post reported.

The IDF said it would reinforce the cease-fire beginning at 10 a.m.

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The Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis said that following five Israeli strikes in the area, 13 children and two women were among 20 bodies brought to the facility, while in the central city of Deir al-Balah, the Aqsa Hospital said that following two Israeli airstrikes overnight, it had received 10 bodies, including six children and three women.

The al-Awda Hospital, also in central Gaza, said it received 30 bodies, 14 of them children.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz blamed Hamas for the death of 37-year-old reservist Yona Efraim Feldbaum, saying it was yet another breach of the cease-fire, along with not keeping its promises on returning the bodies of dead hostages.

Feldbaum, a member of the IDF's combat engineering corps, was killed by gunfire while his team was destroying an underground tunnel in Rafah.

"A few minutes later, several anti-tank missiles were fired at another armored vehicle belonging to troops in the area," an unnamed military source told the BBC. "No injuries were reported."

Hamas insisted it had nothing to do with the attack in Rafah, saying it was fully committed to the cease-fire but was postponing the return of remains of a 16th hostage recovered on Tuesday because of what it said were violations by Israel.

"Hamas affirms that it has no connection to the shooting incident in Rafah and affirms its commitment to the cease-fire agreement," Hamas said.

"The criminal bombardment carried out by the fascist occupation [Israeli] army on areas of the Gaza Strip represents a blatant violation of the cease-fire agreement."

U.S. President Donald Trump defended Israel's right to "hit back" when attacked but insisted the cease-fire, signed Oct. 13 at his urging, was not in danger.

Speaking in Gyeongju, South Korea, he said "nothing was going to jeopardize it."

"They took out, they killed an Israeli soldier, so the Israelis hit back and they should hit back. When that happens, they should hit back.

"If Hamas does not behave, they will be terminated," he added.

On Tuesday, the IDF released a video it said showed Hamas operatives preparing for a staged return of the remains of an Israeli hostage returned Monday through the Red Cross that subsequently turned out to be parts of a hostage already recovered by the IDF in December 2023.

The military said the footage shot from a drone showed Hamas operatives "removing body remains from a structure that had been prepared in advance and burying them nearby," to make it appear they had just been discovered.

The International Committee of the Red Cross condemned the "fake recovery," saying it had been acting in good faith.

"The ICRC team at this location were not aware that a deceased person had been placed there prior to their arrival, as seen in the footage -- in general, our role as neutral intermediary does not include unearthing of the bodies of the deceased."

Hamas denied the allegations, accusing Israel of concocting pretexts for its baseless aggression.