Israeli attacks on Gaza kill 20 in one of deadliest days since ‘ceasefire’

Israel has killed at least 20 Palestinians in attacks across the Gaza Strip in one of the deadliest days since the October “ceasefire” began as the evacuation of Palestinian patients and wounded via the Rafah crossing with Egypt has been suspended.

Israel has killed 529 Palestinians since the United States-brokered ceasefire went into effect. At least 71,803 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since the war began on October 7, 2023. Rights groups and a United Nations inquiry have called Israeli military actions in Gaza a genocide. A case of genocide against Israel is under way at the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

Reporting from Khan Younis in southern Gaza, Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum said “extensive Israeli intelligence efforts” were carried out in the eastern parts of Gaza City, “where a number of residential homes have been squarely targeted without any prior warning”.

Abu Azzoum said the attacks occurring despite a “ceasefire” supposedly being in place have left Palestinians in Gaza “without any sense of respite”.

“There has been a surge in Israel’s military activities across Gaza in the past few hours,” he said.

“We can hear the … sound of Israeli drones hovering overhead, giving a sign of further potential attacks that might take place.”

Among the casualties were a number of children, medical sources said on Wednesday.

The dead included 14 people killed by Israeli shelling in northern Gaza, an Al Jazeera team on the ground reported.

In further attacks in the south of the Strip, at least four people were killed in Israeli shelling of tents sheltering displaced people in the Qizan Abu Rashwan area, south of Khan Younis, an Al Jazeera team reported, quoting medical sources.

An additional two people were killed by Israeli air attacks on the al-Mawasi coastal tent camp. The Palestine Red Crescent Society said one of those killed was one of its paramedics.

Israel’s military said its armoured units and aircraft conducted strikes in northern Gaza after a reserve officer came under fire and was severely injured.

It said the officer was evacuated to hospital after the incident, which took place “during routine operational activity” near the “yellow line”, which demarcates areas under Israeli military control.

Abu Azzoum said Israel was moving the location of the “yellow line” in eastern Gaza, causing anxiety for residents there.

Rafah crossing evacuations suspended

During the uptick in Israeli attacks, the Palestine Red Crescent Society said Israel cancelled the coordination for a third group of Palestinian patients to leave the Gaza Strip on Wednesday through the Rafah crossing.

“Unfortunately, a few minutes ago, we were … informed that the evacuation process of today has been cancelled,” Red Crescent spokesperson Raed al-Nims told Al Jazeera from Khan Younis. He said Israel informed the organisation about the move on Wednesday morning.

Al-Nims said the procedure should have seen sick and wounded people arrive at a Red Cross hospital for preliminary medical checkups before being transferred by ambulance to the Rafah crossing, then to Egyptian hospitals or elsewhere.

The Rafah crossing reopened on Monday after it was closed for nearly two years. Five Palestinians were permitted to leave for Egypt on Monday and 16 on Tuesday – numbers far below the 50 Palestinians who Israeli officials said would be allowed to leave daily.

COGAT, the Israeli Ministry of Defence body that oversees civil affairs in Palestinian territory, said in an X post that the World Health Organization (WHO), which is responsible for coordinating the arrival of residents from the Gaza Strip to the Rafah crossing, had not submitted “the required coordination details at this stage for procedural reasons”.

There has been no response from the WHO so far.

Israel agreed to open the key crossing – the Gaza Strip’s only gateway to the outside world – after weeks of delay but has placed restrictions on the movement of people through the crossing.

Only Palestinians who left Gaza during the war and have undergone strict security vetting by Israeli authorities are being permitted to return.

Those who have recently returned have described being blindfolded, handcuffed, interrogated and sexually harassed as they made the trip.

More than 18,000 Palestinian patients are also awaiting medical evacuations through the crossing, including about 440 critical cases that need immediate attention, Gaza health officials said.

Abu Azzoum said Israel was not giving any explanation as to why some Palestinians were being denied permission to leave or return to the Strip.

“Even for those who are willing to return to Gaza, the return must go through military lanes first as people have told us that their names must be pre-declared by the Israeli military and their movement capped, and even their return is being regulated,” Abu Azzoum said.

“Even the final decision regarding that does not rest with Palestinians but with the Israeli security forces.”

Palestinian killed in Jericho raid

While the killings have played out in Gaza, Israeli forces have also carried out attacks in the occupied West Bank.

Saeed Na’el al-Sheikh, a 24-year-old Palestinian man, was shot and killed by Israeli forces on Tuesday night during a raid on the city of Jericho, in the east of the occupied West Bank, Wafa news agency reported.

The Health Ministry said three other Palestinians were wounded.

Six more Palestinians were wounded in other attacks, including three who were shot, two who were beaten up by Israeli soldiers and a woman who was run over by a military vehicle.