Israeli airstrikes expand in Gaza, hitting residential buildings and refugee camps

Israeli warplanes intensified their bombing campaign over Gaza on Wednesday‑Thursday, striking a commercial apartment building opposite the Al‑Ahli Arab Hospital in the city’s Al‑‘Ilmi area. The attack ignited a fire inside the flats and prompted civil‑defence crews to contain the blaze. Earlier attacks had demolished homes in the Shati and al‑Bureij refugee camps, injuring at least nine Palestinians in Shati and causing extensive damage to neighboring structures.

Palestinian sources reported that the latest strikes violated the cease‑fire agreement, with continued shelling, gunfire and bulldozing in eastern Gaza. The Palestinian Ministry of Health said the death toll since the cease‑fire began in early October has risen to 1,207, with 3,914 injured, adding to the overall war toll of more than 73,000 dead and 174,000 wounded since October 7.