ISRAELI forces have killed at least three Palestinians, including a four-year-old child, in Gaza, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened to intensify attacks on the war-torn enclave over “launches” of “kites, drones and balloons” from the territory.
Israeli strikes on Sunday hit a warehouse in the town of az-Zawayda, as well as two areas on Salah al-Din Street in central Gaza, according to the Palestinian Wafa news agency.
A child was killed, and six others were wounded in the Israeli attack on az-Zawayda, while two others were killed in the separate attacks on Salah al-Din Street, Wafa reported.
Palestinian sources identified the child killed as four-year-old Muhammad Abdel Salam Taha.
Israeli quadcopters also fired on al-Shujaiyya, east of Gaza City, wounding several people, including 33-year-old journalist Ezz el-Din al-Batsh, while Israeli drone attacks hit southern Khan Younis, wounding at least 10 people.
The strikes come despite a United States-brokered ceasefire to end Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, and amid diplomatic efforts to disarm Hamas and get Israeli troops to withdraw from the territory.
Al Jazeera’s Moath al-Kahlout, reporting from az-Zawayda, said Israeli forces used two missiles in the attack on the warehouse, causing a fire and widespread destruction.
He noted that the attacks came despite ongoing diplomatic efforts to end Israel’s genocidal war, “fuelling scepticism among the Palestinians” about whether talks will bring any calm to Gaza.
“There is no ceasefire; there is nothing,” he said. “We want solutions; we want to live in peace.”
Meanwhile, in Israel, Netanyahu held a meeting with his defence minister, Israel Katz, on Sunday evening and issued a joint statement condemning “launches” from Gaza.
“Israel warns Hamas that if the launches toward Israel do not stop immediately, the [Israeli military] will act to intensify strikes against those responsible for the launches and evacuate populations from areas from which kites, drones and balloons are launched,” Netanyahu and Katz said in a joint statement.
According to The Times of Israel, the warning came after four kites were launched from Gaza towards Israeli communities over the weekend. The Israeli military said nothing suspicious was found on the kites, and the Times said Netanyahu appeared to be drawing a connection between the kites and “the broader threat posed by armed drones”.
Hamas, for its part, said the kites were only “children’s toys” launched from refugee camps in Gaza.
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem, in a statement to The Times of Israel, said Netanyahu’s threats “are based on fabricated pretexts and are an attempt to justify the continuation of the aggression and violations against our people”.