Israel strikes across Gaza, killing 24, and says militants attacked its soldiers

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli strikes pounded Gaza on Wednesday, killing at least 24 Palestinians, including two babies, according to health officials in the territory, where a fragile ceasefire is under increasing strain. Israel said it killed three militant leaders and others who posed a threat to its forces, and that some strikes came in response to a Hamas attack that seriously wounded one of its soldiers.

Deadly Israeli strikes have repeatedly disrupted the truce since it took effect on Oct. 10. The escalating Palestinian toll has prompted many in Gaza to say it feels like the war is continuing unabated.

Among the Palestinians killed Wednesday were at least five children, seven women and an on-duty paramedic, according to hospital officials.

“Where is the ceasefire? Where are the mediators?”said Dr. Mohamed Abu Selmiya, director of Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital, in a Facebook post.

The ceasefire attempted to halt the more than 2-year-old war, which began with Hamas' deadly attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. While the heaviest fighting has subsided, it has been marred by repeated flare-ups of violence.

A total of 556 Palestinians, half whom were women and children, have been killed by Israel since the ceasefire went into effect, according to Gaza health officials. Israel’s military says four of its soldiers have been killed since the ceasefire began.

Israel has said its strikes are responses to Hamas ceasefire violations or militant attacks on its soldiers. Eight Arab and Muslim countries, including mediators Egypt and Qatar, recently condemned what they called Israel’s “repeated violations” of the deal.

An Israeli military official, speaking on the condition of anonymity in line with military policy, told The Associated Press that Israel's latest attacks were in response to militant gunfire that badly wounded a reservist soldier Wednesday morning.

Israeli troops fired on a building in the Tuffah neighborhood 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 Wateen Khabbaz, her 5-month-old cousin, Mira Khabbaz, and the children's grandmother.

The Israeli military said the attack was a real-time response to the gunfire that targeted its soldiers.

Mourners gathered in the courtyard of Shifa Hospital Wednesday morning for funeral prayers.

“What did this child do? …. Why are they killing the children?” asked a relative of the family, Mohammad Jaser.

Two young children were seen kneeling at the body of their father as a woman told them to bid him farewell. A young girl kissed the dead man's cheeks.

A strike on a tent in the Muwasi area of Khan Younis killed at least three people and wounded 10 others, according to a field hospital run by the Palestinian Red Crescent in the area. The dead included a paramedic who was on duty at the time, said the hospital.

The Israeli military said the strike had targeted and killed a Hamas platoon commander, Bilal Abu Assi, who led a deadly attack on Kibbutz Nir Oz during the 2023 assault that started the war. It said it had used surveillance, precision weapons and other means to avoid hitting bystanders and “regrets any harm caused to uninvolved civilians.”

A separate strike in Khan Younis killed three people.

Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies, said a 12-year-old boy was among the dead, and that all were killed by a strike on a family's tent. An Israeli military official said the strike targeted three individuals who approached Israeli-controlled territory, posing an immediate danger to troops.

Another strike hit the Al-Shati Refugee camp in Gaza City, killing one person and wounding another, according to health officials at Shifa hospital. The Israeli military said it had killed the leader of a Hamas cell responsible for killing a soldier abducted from the Nahal Oz observatory post during the October 2023 assault. It said the militant was targeted in response to the overnight shooting by Hamas.

Israel said the third militant killed Wednesday was an Islamic Jihad leader in northern Gaza.

At least 38 Palestinians were wounded in total by the strikes Wednesday, the Gaza Health Ministry said.

The Rafah border crossing’s opening Monday was hailed as a step forward for the fragile ceasefire. But since then, Palestinian passage through the crossing has been marred by delays, interrogations and uncertainty over who would be allowed to cross. It took the entire day Tuesday for 40 Palestinians to enter Gaza.

On Wednesday, 15 patients from Gaza and 31 of their relatives were scheduled to cross to Egypt, but more than half the group was turned away, said Raed al-Nims, a spokesperson for the Palestine Red Crescent Society. The government of North Sinai confirmed that some had been allowed into Egypt, but did not provide figures. By evening it was not clear if any Palestinians had been allowed to cross into Gaza and the World Health Organization did not respond to requests for an update.

While all fighting has not stopped, some parts of the ceasefire deal have moved forward.

Hamas has released all of the hostages it was holding, and in return Israel has released several thousand Palestinians. Increased amounts of humanitarian aid have flowed into Gaza and a new technocratic committee has been appointed to administer the territory's daily affairs.

The Red Cross said Wednesday it had acted as an intermediary in the handover of 54 Palestinian bodies returned to Gaza. Shifa Hospital said it had also received more than 60 boxes containing other remains. Forensic experts will begin work to identify the remains in a territory where thousands remain missing, the Red Cross said.

Key elements of the ceasefire appear to have stalled, including the deployment of an international security force, the disarmament of Hamas and the reconstruction of Gaza.

In the 2023 attack that started the war, thousands of Hamas-led militants poured into southern Israel after a surprise barrage of rockets, killing 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and abducting 251.

Over 71,800 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between fighters and civilians. The ministry, which is part of the Hamas-led government, maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts.

Magdy reported from Cairo and Frankel from Jerusalem. AP writer Sam McNeil contributed from Brussels.

Palestinians carry the body of a man who was killed in an Israeli military strike, during his funeral at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

A Palestinian woman and her children bid farewell to their husband and father, Youssef Haboush, who was killed in an Israeli military strike, at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Palestinians carry 1-week-old baby Wateen al-Khabaz, who was killed in an Israeli military strike, at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City , Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Palestinians carry 1-week-old baby Wateen al-Khabaz, who was killed in an Israeli military strike, at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City , Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

A Palestinian man mourns over Ahmed Haboush, who was killed in an Israeli military strike, at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Palestinians mourn over the dead who were killed in an Israeli military strike, at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Palestinian wife and children bid farewell to their father, Youssef Haboush, who was killed in an Israeli military strike, at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Palestinians mourn over the dead who were killed in an Israeli military strike, at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Palestinian Raed al-Khabba carries his 3-month-old daughter Mira al-Khabbaz, who was killed in an Israeli military strike, at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

The search is on for one missing U.S. service member while another was rescued after two U.S. warplanes went down in separate incidents including the first shoot-down since the Iran war began nearly five weeks ago.

The incidents occurred just two days after President Donald Trump said in a national address that the U.S. has “beaten and completely decimated Iran.”

One fighter jet was shot down in Iran, officials said. A U.S. crew member from that plane was rescued, but a second was missing, and a U.S. military search-and-rescue operation was underway.

Separately, Iranian state media said a U.S. A-10 attack aircraft crashed in the Persian Gulf after being struck by Iranian defense forces. A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive military situation, said it was not clear if the aircraft crashed or was shot down.

The war now entering its sixth week is destabilizing economies around the world as Iran responds to the U.S. and Israeli attacks by targeting the Gulf region's energy infrastructure and tightening its grip on oil and natural gas shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.

Here is the latest:

Omar al-Waeli, head of Iraq’s Border Ports Authority, said on Saturday that the strike on the Shalamcheh border crossing killed one person and wounded five others.

Authorities did not offer further details on the strike. But trade and passenger traffic is suspended at the crossing, which is crucial for Iranian imports and Iranian pilgrims headed to Iraq’s Shiite shrines.

The Iraqi government said it was directing traders and travelers to alternative crossings.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said on Saturday that it has been informed by Iran about the strike near the premises of the Bushehr nuclear facility that killed a security guard and impacted a building in the complex.

“No increase in radiation levels was reported” following the strike, the IAEA said in a social media post.

Bahrain’s Defense Ministry reported the tally in a social media post on Saturday.

This brings the total number of projectiles fired at the country since the start of the war to 188 missiles and 453 drones.

Bahrain hosts the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet.

The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said in a social media post Saturday that an airstrike near its Bushehr nuclear facility killed a security guard and damaged a support building.

It is the fourth time the facility has been targeted during the war.

The Bushehr nuclear power plant uses low-enriched uranium from Russia, along with Russian technicians, to supply about 1,000 megawatts of power for Iran.

Its pressurized-water reactor can power hundreds of thousands of homes and other businesses and industries. But it contributes only 1% to 2% of Iran’s total power needs.

Iran has been trying to expand the facility to multiple reactors. In 2019, it began a project that ultimately plans to add two additional reactors to the site, each adding another 1,000 megawatts apiece.

Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni has discussed with Saudi Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman defensive military assistance that Italy is providing against Iranian reprisals to U.S.-Israeli attacks.

A brief statement from Meloni's office Saturday did not specify what type of assistance Italy is providing.

It also said the two discussed diplomatic efforts to end the war, the importance of opening the Strait of Hormuz and “more broadly how to promote a regional framework that can break free from the current cycle of conflict.”

Meloni will continue her visit in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

U.S. and Israeli warplanes continued to pound Iran Saturday, hitting several targets including a petrochemical facility, Iranian media reported.

Iran's official English-language newspaper Tehran Times reported that an airstrike hit a facility belonging to Iran’s Agriculture Ministry in the western city of Mehran.

The newspaper said another air raid struck Mahshahr Special Petrochemical Zone in the southwestern Khuzestan province.

The semiofficial Fars news agency reported several explosions heard late Saturday morning in the facility.

Mehr, another semiofficial news agency, reported that the strikes hit four companies within the zone.

Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf made the veiled threat in a social media post late Friday, asking about how busy oil tanker and container ship traffic is through the strait.

The 20-mile (32-kilometer) strait links the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean and is one of the busiest chokepoints in global trade, with more than a tenth of seaborne global oil and a quarter of container ships passing through it.

Iran has already greatly disrupted the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz, sending fuel prices skyrocketing and jolting the world economy.

Disrupting transit through the Bab el-Madeb would force shipping firms to route their vessels around the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa, further hitting prices.

Israel’s rescue services said Saturday the man sustained glass shrapnel wounds after an Iranian missile hit the central city of Bnei Brak.

It wasn't clear if the glass shrapnel was caused by a direct strike or falling debris from an intercepted missile.

Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue services said it was taking the man to the hospital.

The Iranian judiciary's Mizan news agency said Saturday that the two men who were hanged belonged to the Iranian exile group Mujahedeen-e-Khalq.

The agency said Abul-Hassan Montazer and Vahid Bani-Amirian were convicted of “being members of a terrorist group.”

This brings to six the total number of MEK members executed since the start of the war.

Activists and rights groups say Iran routinely holds closed-door trials in which defendants are unable to challenge the accusations they face.

The Israeli military said on Saturday that its air force struck ballistic and and anti-aircraft missile storage sites in Tehran.

It said the strikes a day earlier included weapons manufacture sites as well as military research and development facilities in the Iranian capital.

It said the strikes are part of an ongoing phase to increase damage to Iran's “core systems and foundations.”

Authorities in Dubai said the facades of two buildings were damaged by debris from intercepted drones, including one belonging to U.S. tech firm Oracle. No injuries were reported.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has threatened to attack Oracle and 17 other U.S. companies after accusing them of being involved in “terrorist espionage” operations in Iran.

Previous Iranian drone strikes caused damage to three Amazon Web Services facilities in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

As of Friday, 247 of the wounded were Army soldiers, 63 were Navy sailors, 19 were Marines and 36 were Air Force airmen, according to Pentagon data available online.

It is unclear if the data includes any of the service members involved in the downing of two combat aircraft reported Friday.

Most of the wounded — 200 — were also mid to senior enlisted troops, 85 were officers and 80 were junior enlisted service members.

The current death toll remains at 13 service members killed in combat.

Palestinian Muslims attend Friday prayers outside Jerusalem's Old City due to restrictions linked to the Iran war, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Tamara and her sister Amal color pictures on the floor as their parents, Sara and Ahmed, who fled their village of Khiyam in southern Lebanon due to Israeli bombardment, sit inside a tent used as a shelter in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Mohammad Qubaisi, 53, with burn wounds from an Israeli airstrike on southern Lebanon undergoes surgery by Dr. Mohammed Ziara, left, and his team, at the Sidon Government Hospital in Sidon, Lebanon, Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

A bridge struck by U.S. airstrikes on Thursday is seen in the town of Karaj, west of Tehran, Iran, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

FILE - An F-15E Strike Eagle turns toward the Panamint range over Death Valley National Park, Calif., on Feb. 27, 2017. (AP Photo/Ben Margot, File)