Gaza airstrikes kill dozens, putting ceasefire at risk (Full Transcript)

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: At least 28 people are reported to have been killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza overnight. The health ministry in Gaza, which operates under the authority of Hamas, says that dozens more were injured in the strikes. The U.S.-brokered ceasefire, which came into effect last October, has moved into the second phase since the last remaining body of a hostage held in Gaza was returned to Israel. But Israel and Hamas regularly continue to accuse each other of breaching the truce. The BBC's Dan Johnson is in Jerusalem. He gave me the latest.

[00:00:32] Speaker 2: A series of airstrikes reported since the early hours of this morning across Gaza. An airstrike in Gaza City, which has hit two apartment blocks and a Hamas police station. We understand there are police officers and prisoners who have been killed there. The people killed in the apartment blocks include children. And then in the south of Gaza, there are reports of an Israeli helicopter gunship having hit a tent in which a family was sheltering. Seven members of that family are reported dead, again, including children. And across Gaza, the reports we have at the moment are that at least 28 people have been killed. But the teams are still searching the rubble, and it's possible that that number will increase further. Dozens have also been injured in this series of attacks. The Israelis have confirmed that they have conducted further airstrikes. They are linking this to an incident in Rafah yesterday, when Israeli troops discovered eight Hamas gunmen emerging from a tunnel there. They said that that incident was regarded as a breach of the ceasefire, and that they have conducted these strikes targeting other Hamas commanders. Three were killed in that incident yesterday. A senior Hamas commander was arrested, and the Israelis are saying that these strikes have followed that incident and that they were targeting Hamas. But the reports from the Gaza civil defence and the health ministry there say that certainly some civilians have been caught up in this and have lost their lives. It will now be one of the deadliest days since the ceasefire took effect in early October. It means now more than 500 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire was enacted last October.

[00:02:18] Speaker 1: What does this mean for the possibility of moving to the second phase of the ceasefire?

[00:02:25] Speaker 2: We'll have to see exactly what response there is now from Hamas. The hope was that they would enact the second phase of the ceasefire with the reopening of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt. That was due to happen tomorrow, the Israelis said, in a limited fashion, with some Palestinians, perhaps only a few hundred, maybe as low as 150, being allowed in or out of Gaza via Egypt. That was planned to happen tomorrow. As far as we know, that is still the plan, but this shows how shaky and fragile the peace deal is. Both sides have repeatedly accused the other of violations of the ceasefire ever since it was agreed last October. It will certainly be a tense time. One Palestinian told the BBC that he felt this was like war returning to Gaza once again.

[00:03:14] Speaker 1: Dan Johnson there.