The Ministry of Health in Hamas-run Gaza said that Israeli strikes killed 25 Palestinians and injured 77 on Wednesday, November 19.

Hospital officials who received the bodies said they came from both sides of the yellow line established in last month’s ceasefire. The boundary splits the enclave in two, leaving the border zone under Israeli military control while the area beyond it is meant to serve as a safe zone.

Officials at al-Ahli, Shifa, Nasser and Kuwaiti hospitals reported they received the bodies of those killed from Gaza City, Khan Younis and the Muwasi area, the southern Gaza displacement camp. An Israeli strike also killed one person in Shijaiyah, a Gaza City neighborhood outside the safe zone where Israeli forces remain deployed.

The Israeli military said its strikes responded to militants who had opened fire on Israeli forces in Khan Younis earlier in the day. It said no soldiers were killed.

On Wednesday, Hamas condemned the Israeli strikes across Gaza City and Khan Younis, calling them a “shocking massacre.” In a statement, the group denied firing toward Israeli troops.

Israeli strikes have decreased since the ceasefire agreement took effect on October 10, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, though they have not stopped entirely. After Wednesday evening’s strikes, the ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants, has reported more than 300 deaths since the truce began, an average of more than seven per day. Each side has accused the other of violating its terms, which include increasing the flow of aid into Gaza and returning hostages – dead or alive – to Israel.

Lebanon strikes

Israel also conducted several strikes in southern Lebanon on Wednesday.

The Israeli military said it struck Hezbollah weapons storage facilities in several towns, and accused the Iran-backed group of trying to rebuild its capabilities.

The Israeli military has kept up frequent air strikes in Lebanon in spite of a ceasefire sealed last November that sought to end more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah.

Wednesday’s Lebanon raids came a day after 13 people were killed in a strike Israel said targeted Hamas members in a Palestinian refugee camp in the south of the country – the deadliest attack in Lebanon since the truce came into effect.

Also on Wednesday, Israel’s top leaders visited Israeli troops stationed inside Syrian territory, in a buffer zone intended to separate the two countries’ forces. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told troops that their presence had “immense importance” to safeguard Israel.

The visit was sharply condemned by Damascus, which called it “a serious violation of Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity”, and reiterated its “firm demand” that Israel withdraw its forces from Syrian territory.