Israeli tank shelling and airstrikes on Gaza killed at least 21 Palestinians, including two infants, on Feb. 4, according to Gaza health officials, as near-daily violence continued despite an October ceasefire. Israel said the strikes followed militant fire on its soldiers that seriously wounded one.
The dead included at least five children — among them a 5-month-old infant and a baby just 10 days old — as well as seven women and a paramedic, according to a report from CBS News citing hospital officials in Gaza.
Israeli fire hit multiple locations across the territory, the officials said. In the Tuffah neighborhood in the northern part of Gaza City, Israeli troops fired on a building, killing at least 11 people, most of whom were from the same family, according to Shifa Hospital and accounts cited by the report.
Tank shelling struck Gaza City’s eastern neighborhood of Zaytoun, killing three Palestinians, including a married couple, hospital officials said.
In the south, an Israeli strike hit a family tent in Khan Younis, killing three people, including a 12-year-old boy, according to Nasser Hospital. Another strike on a tent in the Muwasi area reportedly killed at least two people and wounded five others. A Palestinian Red Crescent paramedic was killed in the Muwasi strike, according to the Red Crescent field hospital.
Israel’s military said its strikes were carried out after Hamas militants opened fire on Israeli troops, wounding a reservist soldier. In statements cited by both CBS News and Reuters, the military described the shooting as a "blatant violation of the current ceasefire agreement" and said armored units and aircraft returned fire.
An Israeli military official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of military policy, told AP News that Israel would continue striking Gaza, according to CBS.
Both Reuters and CBS / AP reported that Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry says Israeli fire has killed more than 530 Palestinians since the ceasefire took effect Oct. 10, most of them civilians. Israeli authorities say Palestinian militants have killed four Israeli soldiers during the same period.