The Israeli attacks, resumed on Tuesday in Gaza, caused several hundred casualties among Palestinians, and the toll is regularly updated. On Wednesday alone, more than 20 people were killed, including a foreign national. Four others were wounded during an airstrike on the site of a U.N. headquarters in Deir al-Balah, IPN reports, with reference to Reuters.

The Israeli army denied hitting the UN compound in Gaza, saying the target of the attack was a Hamas site in the north of the region, where the group is reportedly preparing to fire on Israeli territory.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he ordered strikes because Hamas had rejected proposals to secure a ceasefire extension. "From now on, Israel will act against Hamas with increasing force. And from now on, negotiations will only take place under fire," he said.

Taher al-Nono, a Hamas official, said that the group has not shut the "door" to negotiations and that there is no need for new agreements when a signed one exists, Al Jazeera reports.

Israel and Hamas accuse each other of violating the truce that gave respite to Gaza's 2.3 million residents after 17 months of war.

Israel accused the Islamist organization Hamas of using Palestinian civilians as a human shield. The Palestinian group denies the accusations and accuses Israel of the bombings.

Hamas representatives attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing nearly 1,200 people and taking 250 hostages, according to Israeli statistics.

Subsequently, the Israeli military campaign in Gaza killed more than 49,000 people, according to Palestinian health authorities, and caused a humanitarian crisis, with shortages of food, fuel and water.

Photo source: The Guardian/ Screenshot