At least 31 Palestinians, including at least six children, have been killed since dawn in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City and Khan Younis, according to medical sources who spoke to Al Jazeera.
The attacks come a day before the planned reopening of the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt, which is expected to open on Sunday for the first time since May 2024.
The Israeli military said it had carried out airstrikes across the Gaza Strip, claiming they were in response to what it described as a ceasefire violation. According to the official statement, the targets were individuals described as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad commanders and fighters.
The Israeli military said it had identified individuals emerging from an underground structure in eastern Rafah and had subsequently carried out strikes on several areas of Gaza, including weapons depots, a weapons manufacturing facility and two launch sites in central Gaza. It said the strikes killed four individuals it identified as commanders, as well as others it described as fighters. The claims could not be independently verified.
Earlier, medical sources had confirmed that the latest wave of attacks had caused 31 casualties since dawn, among them at least six children, raising concerns about a further escalation of violence on the eve of the reopening of Rafah.
