Israel on Wednesday violated a US-brokered ceasefire and killed at least 25 Palestinians in a wave of strikes concentrated on Gaza City and Khan Younis, according to the territory's civil defence agency.
Twelve people were killed in Gaza City in the north of the Palestinian territory and 10 in the southern Khan Yunis area, reported AFP.
The attacks also wounded over 77 Palestinians as Gaza's population --devastated after Israel's two-year-long genocidal war-- grappled with winter, rains and flooding.
The Israeli military claimed the attacks were against "Hamas targets" accusing the Palestinian group of opening fire towards an area where troops were operating in Gaza.
"This action constitutes a violation of the ceasefire agreement. No IDF (Israeli military) injuries were reported. In response, the IDF began striking Hamas terrorist targets across the Gaza Strip," the military said in a statement.
Despite flare-ups, a fragile truce has largely been holding in Gaza since October 10.
Since then, Israel has carried out repeated strikes against what it says are Hamas targets, resulting in the death of more than 280 Palestinians, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.
Wednesday's strikes were among the deadliest in the territory since the ceasefire entered into force.
The highest daily toll was registered on October 29, when more than 100 people were killed in Israeli strikes, according to civil defence figures and data received by AFP from five Gaza hospitals.
While the bodies of only three hostages remain in Gaza, the implementation of the second stage of US President Donald Trump's peace plan has yet to be agreed, particularly as it concerns disarming Hamas, establishing a transitional authority and deploying an international stabilisation force.
Israel's genocidal war on Gaza has killed at least 69,513 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, since October 2023, according to figures from the territory's health ministry. Israel has also targeted and killed over 220 journalists and at least 1000 healthcare and aid workers in Gaza.
Lebanon strikes
Israel also conducted several strikes in southern Lebanon on Wednesday.
The Israeli military said it struck Hezbollah weapons storage facilities in several towns, and accused the Iran-backed group of trying to rebuild its capabilities.
The Israeli military has kept up frequent air strikes in Lebanon in spite of a ceasefire sealed last November that sought to end more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah.
Wednesday's Lebanon raids came a day after 13 people were killed in a strike Israel said targeted Hamas members in a Palestinian refugee camp in the south of the country -- the deadliest attack in Lebanon since the truce came into effect.
Also on Wednesday, Israel's top leaders visited Israeli troops stationed inside Syrian territory, in a buffer zone intended to separate the two countries' forces.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told troops that their presence had "immense importance" to safeguard Israel.
The visit was sharply condemned by Damascus, which called it "a serious violation of Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity", and reiterated its "firm demand" that Israel withdraw its forces from Syrian territory.
(With inputs from Online Desk)