Israel's military says ceasefire is back on as death toll from overnight
strikes in Gaza reaches 81
[October 29, 2025]
By WAFAA SHURAFA and JOSH BOAK
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — The death toll in Gaza from overnight
Israeli strikes has climbed to 81, hospital officials said Wednesday.
Previously, at least 60 people, including many children, were reported
killed. Shifa Hospital Director Mohammed Abu Selmia says the hospital
received 21 more bodies killed in the strikes, including seven women and
six children.
He said he expects the death toll to rise as many of the 45 wounded that
the hospital located in Gaza City took in are in critical condition,
among them 20 children.
The new report came as the Israeli military said the ceasefire was back
in effect after it carried out heavy airstrikes across Gaza. It said
Israeli forces would continue to uphold the ceasefire agreement but
would respond firmly” to any violation of the deal.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli strikes overnight in Gaza have
killed at least 60 people, including many children, local hospital
officials said Wednesday, in what is likely the most serious challenge
to the tenuous ceasefire deal in Gaza since it came into force earlier
this month.
The development came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
ordered the military to conduct “powerful strikes” over Gaza, accusing
Hamas of violating the fragile ceasefire. Hamas said in response that
that it would delay handing over the body of another hostage.
U.S. President Donald Trump, currently on a trip to Asia, defended the
strikes, saying Israel was justified in carrying them out after what he
said was an incident in which Hamas killed an Israeli soldier during an
exchange of gunfire in Rafah, the southernmost city in Gaza.
Hamas denied any involvement in that deadly shooting and in turn accused
Israel of violating the ceasefire deal.
Airstrikes, then bodies come in
The Aqsa Hospital in Gaza's central city of Deir al-Balah said at least
10 bodies, among them three women and six children, reached the hospital
overnight after two Israeli airstrikes there. In southern Gaza, the
Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis said it received 20 bodies after five
Israeli strikes in the area, of which 13 were children and two were
women.
Elsewhere in central Gaza, the Al-Awda Hospital said it received 30
bodies, including 14 children.
Netanyahu's order to launch strikes came after an Israeli official said
its forces were fired upon in southern Gaza and after Hamas handed over
body parts on Monday that Israel said were the partial remains of a
hostage recovered earlier in the war.
The Israeli prime minister called the return of these body parts a
“clear violation” of the ceasefire agreement, which requires Hamas to
return the remaining hostages in Gaza as soon as possible. Israeli
officials also accused Hamas of staging the discovery of these remains
on Monday, sharing a 14-minute edited video captured by a military drone
in Gaza.
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Displaced Palestinians inspect the damage after an Israeli army
strike on their tent camp in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Wednesday,
Oct. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Israel notified the United States before launching the strikes on
Tuesday, according to two U.S. officials who spoke on condition of
anonymity to discuss the subject.
Trump defends Israel
Trump told journalists aboard Air Force One on Wednesday that Israel
“should hit back” when its troops come under attack.
But he said he's still confident the ceasefire, which started on Oct.
10, would withstand the escalation in violence because “Hamas is a very
small part of the overall Middle East peace. And they have to behave.”
If not, they will be “terminated,” Trump added.
An Israeli military official said Wednesday that the soldier was killed
by “enemy fire” on Tuesday afternoon targeting his vehicle in Rafah. The
official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential
military operations.
The official said Israeli troops in the area came under attack numerous
times Tuesday as they worked to destroy tunnels and Hamas
infrastructure. Israel identified the soldier who was killed as Master
Sgt. Yona Efraim Feldbaum, 37.
Hamas insisted it was not involved in the Rafah gunfire and reiterated
its commitment to the ceasefire.
“The violent strikes carried out by Israel across the strip is a blatant
violation of the ceasefire deal,” said the militant group, calling on
mediators to pressure Israel to stop.
Gaza hospitals try to cope with casualties
Ambulances and small trucks carrying bodies crowded hospital entrances
overnight across Gaza. In Deir Al-Balah, bodies were wheeled in on
stretchers, and others carried in on mattresses. One man walkedg into
the hospital carrying the body of a young child.
“They struck right next to us, and we saw all the rubble on top of us
and our young ones,” said a woman standing outside of the hospital.
At dawn, displaced Palestinians at the camp cleared remains of a
destroyed tent next to a crater where the strike hit. They found the
body of a small child and wrapped it in a blanket.
“What kind of a ceasefire is this?” Amna Qrinawi, a survivor, asked.
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Boak reported from Tokyo. Associated Press writers Julia Frankel, Josef
Federman and Renata Brito in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
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