AT least three Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza, as casualties continue to mount in the enclave despite a “ceasefire” declared months ago.
Two Palestinians were killed in an Israeli air attack on the al-Amal neighbourhood of Khan Younis in southern Gaza on Saturday, according to medical sources.
Several injured people, including a child, were transported to Nasser Hospital.
Earlier in the day, an Israeli drone attack in the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza killed one person and injured two others, reported the Wafa news agency.
The Palestinian Information Center identified the person killed as Muawiya al-Aydi, a local municipality worker.
Elsewhere in central Gaza, four Palestinians were wounded by Israeli gunfire in the Yarmouk area, Al Jazeera reporters on the ground said, citing the Palestine Red Crescent.
A separate Israeli attack had earlier injured a person at a gathering in Gaza City’s Tuffah neighbourhood, according to Wafa.
Despite a ceasefire technically in effect since October, Israel’s military has regularly attacked Gaza, more than half of which is under Israeli military control in defiance of the ceasefire’s terms.
According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, at least 983 Palestinians have been killed and 3,122 injured in Israeli attacks on the strip since the ceasefire was declared.
Hamas has accused Israel of repeatedly violating the agreement through its continued attacks and by shifting the so-called “Yellow Line” that demarcates Israeli-controlled areas in Gaza.
“Israeli actions reflect its unwillingness to implement the ceasefire agreement and aim to blow up the negotiation track and thwart the efforts being made, while continuing escalation to serve political and electoral considerations,” said Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem on Friday.
Disabled Palestinian shot, injured in West Bank
Israeli troops also carried out a series of violent raids in the occupied West Bank on Saturday, part of a pattern of near-daily operations since the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023.
According to Wafa, Israeli forces deployed stun grenades and tear gas during two separate incidents near Bethlehem, causing numerous injuries: one during a raid on the Dheisheh refugee camp and the other while blocking access to the Solomon’s Pools reservoirs.
A disabled Palestinian man was also shot and injured in the town of Duma, near Hebron.
Wafa said Israeli forces shot the man, while Israeli media cited Israeli police as saying an Israeli settler was responsible. According to Israeli police, the settler felt threatened by the man who was carrying a rock.
Other Israeli settlers attacked Palestinians and vandalised property near Bethlehem, including assaulting Palestinian electrical workers and stealing water pipes, said Wafa.
Several Palestinians suffered from suffocation after inhaling tear gas fired by Israeli troops in the village of Deir Abu Mishal, in the Ramallah and el-Bireh area, it said.
Settlers also blockaded a road connecting the Palestinian towns of Arrabeh and Yabad, and set fire to farmland and vehicles in the town of Jit, added the agency.