Israeli fire in Gaza killed at least 17 Palestinians, most of them women and children, hospital officials said on Wednesday. Israel said its strikes came after militants fired on its soldiers, seriously wounding one.

Seven women and five children were killed, hospital officials said, including a 5-month-old and a baby just 10 days old. They are the latest Palestinians in Gaza to die since a ceasefire deal, which has been punctuated by deadly Israeli strikes, came into effect on October 10, 2025. More than 530 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in that time, according to Gaza’s health ministry.

“The genocidal war against our people in the Gaza Strip continues,” said Dr Mohamed Abu Selmiya, director of Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital, in a Facebook post. “Where is the ceasefire? Where are the mediators?”

The attacks and the escalating death toll have rocked the US-backed truce and caused Palestinians in the strip to say it does not feel like the war has ended.

Mediators have condemned the attacks and Hamas has called them violations of the deal, but Israel’s military says it is responding to Hamas violations or militant attacks on its soldiers. The military says four soldiers have been killed since the ceasefire took hold.

Palestinians mourned the loss of three people at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, who were killed in an Israeli attack on Wednesday. Photo: dpa

Early on Wednesday, Israeli troops fired on a building in the Tuffah neighbourhood in north Gaza, killing at least 11 people, most from the same family, said Shifa Hospital, which received the bodies. The dead included two parents, their 10-day-old daughter, her 5-month-old cousin and their grandmother.