Israeli tank shelling and airstrikes killed 24 Palestinians including seven children in Gaza on Wednesday (4 February), health officials said, the latest violence to undermine the nearly four-month-old ceasefire.
Among the dead was a medic who rushed to help victims of a strike in the southern city of Khan Younis and was then killed by a second attack on the same location, health officials said.
Other strikes hit Gaza City in the north, where health officials said a 5-month-old boy was killed. The attacks come three days after Israel reopened Gaza's main border crossing with Egypt, a big step envisaged by the U.S.-backed truce deal.
"While we were sleeping in our house, the tank shelled us and the shells hit our house, our children were martyred - my son was martyred, my brother's son and daughter were martyred ... We have nothing to do with anything, we are peaceful people," said Abu Mohamed Habouch, speaking at a funeral for his family.
Tents in Mawasi, a coastal area near Khan Younis crowded with Gazans displaced by the conflict, had been ripped apart by the strikes. Nearly all of Gaza's population of more than 2 million were forced to flee their homes during the war.
The Israeli military said it launched the strikes in response to Palestinian militants opening fire on Israeli troops operating near its armistice line with Hamas. It said an Israeli soldier was severely injured by the militant fire, which it described as a violation of the ceasefire agreement.
A subsequent statement said one of the Israeli strikes had targeted a senior Hamas commander.
A commander from Hamas' smaller ally, Islamic Jihad, and his 11-year-old daughter were among those killed in strikes on Wednesday, according to relatives.
The Israeli military later confirmed in a statement that it had killed an Islamic Jihad commander.
Hamas said Israel's actions undermined efforts to stabilise the ceasefire. In a statement, the group called for "immediate international pressure to halt violations."
Palestinian patients preparing to cross through the newly opened Rafah crossing to Egypt were told that Israel had postponed the passage of patients through the border. Afterwards, Palestinian health authorities said that the group of patients was on their way to the border.
The Israeli agency that controls access to Gaza, COGAT, said the Rafah crossing remained open but it had not received the necessary details from the World Health Organization to facilitate crossings. The WHO did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
An Egyptian security source told Reuters that Israel had cited security issues in the Rafah area as the reason for the temporary closure, but those had since been resolved and work had resumed at the border.
A spokesperson for the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said 46 people were set to cross to Egypt on Wednesday (4 February), but only 20 were able to travel to Egypt while the other 26 were returned to Gaza.
Reopening the crossing was one of the requirements under the October ceasefire that set out the first phase of U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to stop fighting between Israel and Islamist Hamas militants.
Sixteen patients from Gaza and 40 of their escorts crossed into Egypt on Tuesday, Gazan medics told Reuters. A Hamas police source told Reuters that at least 40 people crossed from Egypt to Gaza late on Tuesday.
Second phase of ceasefire
Israel handed back 54 bodies and 66 boxes of human remains of Palestinians on Wednesday, according to Gaza's health authorities, with the fragile ceasefire set to move towards its second phase.
Key issues like the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the over 50% of Gaza they currently occupy and the disarmament of Hamas remain unresolved, while the fragile ceasefire has been marked by near-daily violence.
Pakistan‑brokered talks between the U.S., Israel and Iran get underway today as disagreements continue over the two‑week ceasefire, including I...
Lebanon is sliding deeper into a food security crisis as ongoing regional conflict disrupts supply routes and drives up the cost of basic goods, th...
Thousands of Palestinians returned to pray at Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem after Israel lifted a 40-day ban that had left one of Islam’s ...
In a forceful rebuke to Washington’s foreign policy in the Americas, a senior Russian diplomat has declared that Moscow will never abandon Cu...
Hungary votes on Sunday in a parliamentary election that could loosen Viktor Orbán’s 16-year hold on power. His ruling Fidesz faces a ...
Pakistan‑brokered talks between the U.S., Israel and Iran get underway today as disagreements continue over the two‑week ceasefire, including Israel‑Hezbollah conflict and Iran’s handling of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz after President Donald Trump warned the terms were being misapplied.
Lebanon is sliding deeper into a food security crisis as ongoing regional conflict disrupts supply routes and drives up the cost of basic goods, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has warned.
Thousands of Palestinians returned to pray at Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem after Israel lifted a 40-day ban that had left one of Islam’s holiest sites largely closed.
In a forceful rebuke to Washington’s foreign policy in the Americas, a senior Russian diplomat has declared that Moscow will never abandon Cuba, pledging ongoing support to help the Communist-run island overcome a severe energy crisis linked to the United States embargo.
China and Russia vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution on Tuesday aimed at coordinating defensive efforts to protect commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, leaving no agreed international framework for securing the vital route.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he has given an instruction for Israel to begin peace talks with Lebanon that would also include the disarming of Hezbollah.
Some geographies are small on the map yet immense in history. The Strait of Hormuz is one. About a quarter of global oil trade and a fifth of LNG flows pass through this narrow corridor - around 20 million barrels per day sustaining the global system.
Afghanistan and Pakistan have agreed to continue dialogue and avoid steps that could worsen tensions after China-hosted talks in Urumqi, with Kabul and Beijing saying the meetings focused on easing differences and improving relations.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said Türkiye aims to rank among the world’s top ten exporters of defence technology within the next two years.
Lebanon is sliding deeper into a food security crisis as ongoing regional conflict disrupts supply routes and drives up the cost of basic goods, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has warned.
Thousands of Palestinians returned to pray at Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem after Israel lifted a 40-day ban that had left one of Islam’s holiest sites largely closed.
As Islamabad prepares to host crucial talks between the U.S. and Iran this Sunday, hopes for a sustained peace remain fragile, with fresh Israeli strikes in Lebanon casting doubt over already delicate negotiations.
The U.S. and Iran are meeting in Pakistan under a fragile ceasefire but remain deeply divided over Tehran’s nuclear programme, sanctions and regional security. With fighting in Lebanon escalating, the talks face mounting pressure.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday (9 April) he is seeking direct talks with Beirut, a day after the deadliest bombardment of the war killed more than 250 people in Lebanon and put Donald Trump’s U.S.–Iran ceasefire at risk.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment