Death toll in Gaza after Israel’s overnight strikes rises to 81

Earlier, at least 60 people, including several children, were reported dead. Shifa Hospital Director Mohammed Abu Selmia said the hospital received 21 more bodies killed in the strike, including seven women and six children.

The death toll is likely to further rise as many of the 45 injured persons, that the hospital located in Gaza City, are in critical condition, Selmia added.

The development comes as the Israeli military said the ceasefire was back in effect after its heavy overnight airstrikes across Gaza. It affirmed that Israeli troops would continue to uphold the truce agreement, but would “firmly respond” to any violation of the deal.

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Israeli forces carried out the overnight strike in Gaza after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered them to conduct “powerful strikes” over the territory, accusing Hamas of violating the fragile truce.

In response, the Palestinian militant group said that it would delay handing over the body of another hostage.

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The Aqsa hospital in Gaza’s Deir al-Balah said that at least 10 bodies, including three women and six children, were received by it overnight after the two Israeli strikes in the central city.

In southern Gaza, Khan Younis’s Nasser Hospital said it received 20 bodies after five Israeli strikes in the area, of which two were women and 13 were children.

In central Gaza, the Al-Awsa Hospital said it received 30 bodies, including 14 children.

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US President Donald Trump, who proposed and brokered the Gaza peace plan, defended the overnight strikes, saying that Israel was justified in carrying them out after what he said was an incident where Hamas killed an Israeli soldier during an exchange of fire in Rafah.

However, Hamas denied any involvement in that deadly shooting and instead accused Israel of violating the ceasefire deal.