Israeli air strikes and gunfire killed five Palestinians in Gaza yesterday, health officials said, the latest violence to undermine a four-month-old, US-brokered truce in the enclave.
In Deir Al Balah in central Gaza, an air strike killed two people who were riding an electric bike, medics said. Later, Israeli drone fire killed a woman in Deir Al Balah and troops shot dead a man in Khan Younis in the south, they said.
Another man was killed by Israeli gunfire in Jabalia in north Gaza, Palestinian medics said.
The violence came a day after Israeli forces killed four in the southern city of Rafah after they emerged from an underground tunnel and opened fire on troops.
Without commenting directly on the four people killed, the Israeli military said it had carried out attacks targeting what it described as Hamas fighters in response to an incident in Rafah.
In Gaza City, dozens of Palestinians rallied at the funerals of three people who were killed by an Israeli air strike on an apartment building in the area on Monday night.
One body was wrapped in a Hamas green flag, while another had a green Hamas ribbon on his forehead, signalling that the two were members of the group.
Reuters was not able to ascertain the identities of those killed.
Israel and Hamas have repeatedly traded blame for violations of the ceasefire deal, a key element of US President Donald Trump’s plan to end the Gaza war, the deadliest and most destructive in the generations-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The next phase of Trump’s plan involves Hamas disarming, Israel withdrawing its troops from Gaza, and the deployment of an international peacekeeping force. Hamas has long rejected calls to lay down its arms and Israeli officials say they are preparing for a return to full-scale war.
At least 580 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the October ceasefire deal was struck, Gaza’s health ministry says. Israel says four soldiers have been killed in Gaza over the same period.
A White House official, meanwhile, reiterated Trump’s opposition toward Israel annexing the West Bank.
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