Palestinians load bodies of people, who were reportedly killed by an Israeli air strike, onto a vehicle in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip, on January 31, 2026. BASHAR TALEB / AFP
Israeli air strikes killed 22 people in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, January 31, including women and children, according to the territory's civil defense agency, updating an earlier toll. Despite a US-brokered ceasefire entering its second phase earlier this month, violence in the Palestinian territory has continued, with both Israel and Hamas accusing each other of violating the truce agreement.
The latest violence comes as Israel announced it would reopen the crucial Rafa crossing between Gaza and Egypt on Sunday, a key demand by humanitarian organizations.
"The death toll in the Gaza Strip from Israeli air strikes since dawn on Saturday has risen to 22, most of them women and children, with others still trapped under the rubble," the civil defense agency, a rescue force operating under the Hamas authority, said in a statement. "Residential apartments, tents, shelters and a police station were targeted, resulting in this humanitarian catastrophe," agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal said in the statement.
One strike hit the police station in the Sheikh Radwan district of Gaza City, the territory's largest urban center. Gaza's general police directorate said seven people were killed in that attack.
