ISRAEL’s military has killed seven Palestinians, including two children, in Gaza and announced that it will allow the Rafah crossing to open exclusively for the exit of people from the war-torn territory.
The killings on Wednesday mark the latest Israeli violations of a United States-brokered ceasefire in Gaza and came after the military accused Hamas fighters of attacking and wounding four of its soldiers in southern Rafah, near the enclave’s border with Egypt.
The victims of Israel’s attacks included two Palestinians who were killed by Israeli gunfire in the Zeitoun neighbourhood of northern Gaza City and five who were killed in attacks on the southern al-Mawasi camp, medics said.
The bombings in al-Mawasi triggered a fire that engulfed several tents.
“Five citizens, including two children, killed and others injured, some seriously, as a result of an Israeli missile strike” in al-Mawasi, said civil defence spokesman Mahmoud Basal.
The slain children were aged eight and 10, sources at the Kuwaiti Hospital said, while another 32 Palestinians were wounded.
Some of the victims were severely burned, the Palestinian Wafa news agency reported.
Hamas condemned the al-Mawasi attack, describing it as a “war crime” that demonstrated Israel’s “disregard to the ceasefire agreement”. The Palestinian group demanded mediators – Egypt, Qatar and the US – restrain the Israeli military.
According to authorities in Gaza, Israeli forces have violated the ceasefire at least 591 times since it came into effect on October 10, killing at least 360 Palestinians and wounding 922 others.
Separately on Wednesday, Israel’s military also confirmed receiving the remains of what could be one of the two remaining captives in Gaza from Palestinian armed groups via the International Committee of the Red Cross.
The handover came hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that forensic testing on partial remains returned by Hamas the previous day did not match either of the captives still in Gaza.
Since the fragile truce started, Hamas has returned all 20 living captives and 26 bodies in exchange for approximately 2,000 Palestinian detainees and prisoners.
The exchanges are a key condition of the initial phase of US President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan to end Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. The first phase also calls for Israeli authorities to let in humanitarian aid into the territory and open “the Rafah crossing in both directions”.
Israel, however, has continued to restrict the entry of aid, while a military unit called Israel’s Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) said on Wednesday that the “Rafah Crossing will open in the coming days exclusively for the exit of residents from the Gaza Strip to Egypt”.
Those wishing to leave Gaza will require “security approval”, COGAT added.
Israel’s statement immediately raised fears the move could lead to the permanent displacement of Palestinians, something far-right ministers in Netanyahu’s hardline government have promoted for months.
“It’s hard to see this statement on the Rafah crossing as something that is meant to restore freedom of movement for Palestinians rather than restricting it,” said Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Gaza City.
“It’s directed to give less mobility to Palestinians because it does not guarantee their return after being forced out of Gaza. It’s rather accelerating the process of depopulating the Gaza Strip,” he added.