Oct. 29 (UPI) — At least 50 people were killed in Gaza, including more than two dozen children, in a wave of Israeli strikes in retaliation for the killing of an Israel Defense Forces soldier operating in an area of Rafah on the Israeli side of the so-called Yellow cease-fire line.
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 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 the 37-year-old reservist, saying it was yet another breach of the cease-fire, along with not keeping its promises on returning the bodies of dead hostages.
A child injured in Israeli strikes on Khan Younis in southern Gaza on Tuesday undergoes a scan at the Kuwaiti Field Hospital in nearby Al Mawasi. Photo by Kuwaiti Hospital Press Service/UPI
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.
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.
