Israel says ceasefire back on after Gaza air strikes

ISRAEL’S military has said the ceasefire is back on in Gaza after it carried out heavy air strikes overnight across the Palestinian territory that killed 104 people, including 46 children, according to local health officials.

- WAFAA SHURAFA and JOSH BOAK

A child injured in an attack carried out by Israel on the Nuseirat refugee camp in violation of the ceasefire is taken to Al-Awda Hospital in Gaza City yesterday

The strikes - the deadliest since the ceasefire began on October 10 - marked the most serious challenge to the tenuous truce to date.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had ordered the strikes after accusing Hamas of violating the ceasefire for handing over body parts this week that Israel said were partial remains of a hostage recovered earlier in the war.

That was compounded by the shooting and killing of an Israeli soldier during an exchange of gunfire in Rafah, the southernmost city in Gaza.

US President Donald Trump defended the strikes, saying Israel was justified in carrying them out after Hamas killed the Israeli soldier, who also held US citizenship.

Hamas denied any involvement in the deadly shooting and in turn accused Israel of “a blatant violation of the ceasefire deal’.

It also said it would delay handing over the body of another hostage to Israel because of the strikes.