Israeli strikes on Feb 4 killed 24 in Gaza, including a five-month-old boy and a doctor.
Attack and Casualties
On Wednesday, February 4, Israel conducted air strikes and shelling in the Gaza Strip. Local health authorities reported 24 fatalities, including seven children. A five-month-old boy was among the dead in Gaza City. A doctor providing aid in Khan Younis was also killed. Al Jazeera stated numerous homes in Gaza were attacked without prior warning.
Nomad tents were destroyed in the strikes. Israel claimed the strikes were responses to attacks on its military, alleging an Israeli soldier was injured, violating last year’s ceasefire terms.
Border Crossing Issues
The attacks occurred three days after Israel reopened Gaza’s main border crossing with Egypt. This is the sole entry/exit point for two million Gazans, previously bombed by Israel in May 2024 during the war with Hamas. The Palestinian Red Crescent reported Israel canceled planned Wednesday evacuations through Rafah for patients qualified by WHO for overseas treatment.
Israel declared 50 people could cross daily in each direction via Rafah. Over 20,000 WHO-qualified patients await departure, including over 1,000 in critical condition. Al Jazeera reporters described experiences of permitted returnees: Palestinian women were separated from children, handcuffed, blindfolded, threatened, and interrogated for hours.
Casualty Statistics
Deaths in Gaza since the October ceasefire exceed 530. According to Palestinian health ministry figures, 71,000 Palestinians have died in Israeli retaliatory attacks since Hamas’s 2023 invasion of Israel. Israel has confirmed these figures. Around 1,200 Israelis died in Palestinian attacks.