Gaza’s civil defense agency and hospitals said Wednesday that a series of Israeli strikes killed more than 100 people across the Palestinian territory.

“At least 101 fatalities were brought to hospitals, including 35 children and a number of women and elderly, as a result of Israeli air strikes in less than 12 hours,” said Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for the agency, which operates as a rescue force under Hamas authority.

The toll was confirmed by an AFP tally of reports from medical officials at five Gaza hospitals that received the dead and wounded.

This comes as the Israeli military issued a statement on Wednesday saying that a soldier was killed during fighting in southern Gaza.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that a US-backed ceasefire in Gaza was not at risk after Israel launched airstrikes in the enclave in response to the killing of the Israeli soldier.

“As I understand it, they took out an Israeli soldier,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. “So the Israelis hit back and they should hit back. When that happens, they should hit back,” he added.

“Nothing is going to jeopardize” the ceasefire, Trump said. “You have to understand Hamas is a very small part of peace in the Middle East, and they have to behave.”

The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the strikes, which followed a statement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office saying he had ordered immediate “powerful attacks.”

An Israeli military official claimed Hamas had violated the ceasefire by carrying out an attack against Israeli forces who were stationed within the so-called ‘yellow line’, the deployment line agreed upon in the ceasefire.

The US-backed ceasefire agreement went into effect on October 10, halting two years of war that began on October 7, 2023.Both sides have accused each other of ceasefire violations.

“If they (Hamas) are good, they are going to be happy and if they are not good, they are going to be terminated, their lives will be terminated,” Trump said.

“Nobody knows what happened to the Israeli soldier but they say it was sniper fire. And it was retribution for that, and I think they have a right to do that.”

Hamas denied responsibility for the attack on Israeli forces in Rafah, in southern Gaza and said in a statement that it remained committed to the ceasefire deal.