At least 29 Palestinians were killed and others wounded early Saturday in Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip, hospitals in the enclave said, marking one of the highest tolls since the October cease-fire aimed at stopping Israeli attacks.
The series of strikes also came a day before the Rafah crossing along the border with Egypt is set to open in Gaza's southernmost city. Israel has kept all of the territory's border crossings have been closed throughout almost the entire war. The Rafah crossing is a lifeline for the tens of thousands in need of treatment outside the territory, where the majority of medical infrastructure has been destroyed.
Hamas called Saturday's strikes "a renewed flagrant violation" and urged the United States and other mediating countries to push Israel to stop strikes.
A military official, speaking Saturday on the condition of anonymity in line with protocol, could not comment on the specific targets, but said Israel carried out overnight and Saturday strikes in response to what the army said were ceasefire violations the day before.
Since the ceasefire took effect in early October, Israeli actions have killed 524 Palestinians and wounded 1,360 others, committing 1,450 violations, according to the Gaza media office on Saturday.
