According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, this marks the highest single-day death toll in the past two months. Palestinian medical and civil defence authorities said the Israeli attacks targeted a police station, residential houses, shelters, and tents for displaced people in Gaza City and other areas.

Ten people were killed in an airstrike on the Sheikh Radwan police station in western Gaza City, including police officers and detainees. Rescue teams are still searching for additional victims trapped under the rubble.

Other strikes hit homes in Gaza City and in central and northern parts of the enclave, while a tent camp sheltering displaced Palestinians was bombed in the southern city of Khan Younis.

Video footage shared by eyewitnesses showed charred walls, destroyed apartments in multi-story buildings, and debris scattered across streets. Relatives of the victims questioned claims of a ceasefire, expressing grief and anger over the civilian deaths.

Speaking to international broadcaster Al Jazeera, Samer al-Atbash said three of his nieces were killed in the bombing. “We found our three little girls on the street. What kind of ceasefire is this? What was the children’s fault?” he said.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said the strikes targeted commanders and fighters from Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, as well as weapons depots and manufacturing sites. According to the IDF, the attacks were carried out in response to an alleged violation of the ceasefire on Friday, when eight armed individuals were seen emerging from a tunnel in eastern Rafah. The military said three were killed and one was arrested, whom it described as a local Hamas commander. Hamas has not commented on the incident.

Hamas rejected Israel’s claims, saying it was Israel that violated the ceasefire and that attacks on civilian areas amounted to “unjustified massacres.” Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem described the Israeli justification as “baseless and weak,” adding that it showed contempt for mediators and guarantor countries.

The latest violence has occurred despite a ceasefire that came into effect in mid-October. Palestinian officials say more than 500 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the truce began, most of them civilians. Israeli authorities say four Israeli soldiers have been killed by Palestinian militants during the same period.

Mahmoud Basal, a spokesperson for Gaza’s Civil Defence, said about a quarter of the recovered bodies were children and around one-third were women. The dead also included an elderly man and four female police officers, while several people are still believed to be trapped under the rubble.

Dr. Mohammad Abu Salmiya, director of Gaza’s largest medical facility, Al-Shifa Hospital, told CNN that the death toll is likely to rise due to the large number of critically injured patients.

Medical officials at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis said the intensive care unit is full, with many children on ventilators, amid a severe shortage of medicines and medical supplies.

The director-general of Gaza’s Ministry of Health, Munir al-Bursh, has called for the immediate opening of border crossings, the entry of medical aid, and the evacuation of wounded Palestinians for treatment abroad, warning that the health situation in Gaza is extremely dire.

Meanwhile, Israeli media reports said the Israeli military acknowledged in an unofficial briefing that approximately 70,000 Palestinians were killed during the Gaza war. However, the IDF denied that these figures represent official data, saying the published details do not reflect its formal records.

The airstrikes come as preparations are underway to reopen the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, while the United States is pressing for progress on the next phases of the ceasefire, which include complex issues such as Hamas disarmament, Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, and the deployment of an international peacekeeping force.