GAZA CITY — Israel’s military said Wednesday, October 29, 2025, that the ceasefire with Hamas was back in effect after overnight airstrikes across Gaza killed 104 people, including 46 children, in what local officials described as the deadliest bombardment since the truce began on Friday, October 10, 2025.
The renewed violence marked the gravest test yet of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire, which has largely held for nearly three weeks.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he ordered the strikes in response to what he called a “clear violation” of the agreement by Hamas.
Israel accused the group of returning only partial remains of a hostage whose body had already been recovered earlier in the war, and of killing an Israeli soldier during an exchange of gunfire in Rafah, southern Gaza.
“The strikes were justified,” U.S. President Donald Trump said while en route to Asia.
“When your troops come under attack, you should hit back.”
Trump added that he believed the truce would survive the escalation because “Hamas is a very small part of the overall Middle East peace. And they have to behave. If not, they will be terminated.”
Hamas denied any role in the Rafah gunfire and accused Israel of a “blatant violation of the ceasefire deal.”
The group said it would delay returning another hostage’s body in protest at the strikes.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Oren Marmorstein, said Hamas bore responsibility for the civilian deaths, claiming the group “uses civilians as human shields.”
He said the slow return of 13 remaining hostage bodies in Gaza was stalling progress on the next phase of the ceasefire, which includes the disarmament of Hamas and the possible deployment of an international force in Gaza.
According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, 253 people were wounded in the attacks, most of them women and children.
Hospitals across the enclave struggled to cope. At Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, director Mohammed Abu Selmia said 45 patients were in critical condition, including 20 children.
“We received 21 bodies, among them seven women and six children,” he said.
In Deir al-Balah, the Al-Aqsa Hospital reported 10 bodies, including six children, while the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis received 20 bodies, 13 of them children.
The Al-Awda Hospital in central Gaza said it took in 30 bodies, including 14 children.
Eyewitnesses described scenes of devastation.
“They struck right next to us, and we saw all the rubble on top of us and our young ones,” said Amna Qrinawi, a woman in Deir al-Balah.
“What kind of a ceasefire is this?”
At dawn, residents in Rafah dug through the remains of a destroyed camp to recover the body of a small child.
Outside Al-Awda Hospital, families gathered around dozens of white shrouds for funeral prayers.
“These are children who were killed,” said Yehya Eid, who lost his brother and nephews.
“What did they do wrong? Did they fight in the war?”
Despite the bloodshed, both Israel and Hamas have indicated that they remain committed to the ceasefire, though tensions remain high as humanitarian agencies warn that Gaza’s hospitals and shelters are on the brink of collapse.
