Deadly Israeli strikes test fragile Gaza truce

In the latest breaches of the flimsy truce, Israel launched several deadly attacks on the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, marking one of the deadliest days since a US-brokered ceasefire came into effect last month.

Israel killed 32 Palestinians — including 12 children and eight women — and injured 88 others in the past 24 hours across Gaza, according to the enclave's health authority. In the occupied West Bank, 100 Palestinians were detained by Israeli forces on the same day.

The ceasefire breaches came just two days after the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution to establish an International Stabilization Force in the Gaza Strip.

Nearly 70,000 people have died since the conflict began two years ago.

The Israel Defense Forces confirmed the attacks on Wednesday.

"Several terrorists were identified crossing the yellow line and approaching IDF troops in northern Gaza, posing an immediate threat. Following identification, the IDF eliminated the terrorists to neutralize the threat," it said on X, adding it began striking terrorist targets across Gaza in response.

Palestinian militant group Hamas rejected the Israeli claims, calling them "a flimsy and transparent attempt to justify its crimes and violations" in Gaza and a dangerous escalation, Al Jazeera reported.

Meanwhile, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee described the surge in Israeli settler violence in the West Bank as "terrorism "during his interview with anchor Elizabeth Vargas of NewsNation.

"Israelis can carry out terrorism as well. But most of these people are not actual settlers who live there," Huckabee said. "This is a very small number, mostly of youth, angry and disaffected. These are thugs."

Ahead of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People on Nov 29, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday that it was now vital that all parties fully respect the ceasefire "and work in good faith toward solutions that restore and uphold international law", including the return of the remaining hostages from Hamas' Oct 7, 2023, attacks.

Irreplaceable lifeline

"Lifesaving humanitarian aid must be allowed to enter Gaza at scale, and the international community must continue to stand firmly with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East — an irreplaceable lifeline for millions of Palestinians, including Palestine refugees," Guterres said.

"I repeat my call for an end to the unlawful occupation of the Palestinian territory — as affirmed by the International Court of Justice and the General Assembly." Guterres also urged irreversible progress toward a two-state solution.

Nagapushpa Devendra, a West Asia analyst and research scholar at the University of Erfurt in Germany, told China Daily, "What we're seeing now isn't the behavior of a functioning ceasefire; it feels more like a pause where each side continues preparing for the next phase of the conflict."

When people in Gaza say "there is no ceasefire", they are describing a reality where bombs still fall and civilians still die, even if external actors insist a truce exists on paper, Devendra said.

"Israel's claim that the strikes were a response to gunfire reflects a cycle where any incident becomes ground for renewed force, which keeps the situation unstable," she said.

Since Oct 10, the Site Management Cluster partners for Gaza updated the status of 353 active displacement sites, which host 621,000 displaced people.

According to a UN humanitarian affairs office update released on Tuesday, 275 sites in the southern governorates host around 560,000 people, while 78 sites in northern Gaza host around 61,000 people.

It is estimated that more than 1 million people are still living in makeshift sites across Gaza, with limited access to assistance, and facing increasingly difficult conditions as winter approaches.

"Cluster partners report that conditions are worsening as winter storms and flooding limit movement and access to services and sites and have resulted in cessation of many activities," the update said.

Conditions are more dangerous for children, older people, women and persons with disabilities, it added. The storms have also caused extensive damage to tents, facilities and service points.