An Israeli airstrike killed five Palestinians, including three children, near a mosque in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday (22 February), health officials said.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the incident.
The latest deaths add to ongoing violence that continues to undermine the U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement signed in October after two years of full-scale war between Israel and Hamas.
Progress on key elements of the deal, including Hamas disarmament and Israeli troop withdrawals, has largely stalled.
Under the current arrangement, Israeli forces remain in control of a depopulated zone covering more than half of Gaza, while Hamas retains control of the remaining narrow coastal strip.
According to local medics, more than 780 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire came into effect.
Israel, meanwhile, says four of its soldiers have been killed by militants during the same period, with both sides accusing each other of repeated ceasefire violations.
In a separate development, Palestinians in one of the few Gaza cities not overrun by Israeli ground forces during the war are set to vote in municipal elections this weekend.
Some candidates are linked to Hamas, making the vote a rare indicator of the group’s current level of support.
This will be the first election held in Gaza since 2006, when Hamas won the Palestinian Authority’s legislative elections before taking control of the territory after a brief internal conflict with Fatah, which remains dominant in the West Bank.
The elections come as U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposed “Board of Peace” advances a vision for post-war Gaza. The plan envisions rebuilding the territory from scratch under an apolitical committee of Palestinian technocrats.
Supporters of the elections say they carry broader political meaning.
Palestinian political analyst Reham Owda described the vote as “a symbolic step to send a message to the world, to the Board of Peace, and to Israel that the Gaza Strip is an inseparable part of the Palestinian political system.”
Leaders of countries from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) have agreed to hold coordinated population censuses around 2030. They took t...
Saudi Arabia has restored its vital East-West oil pipeline to near-full capacity, but escalating Houthi attacks on energy facilities, airports and ...
Here's your AnewZ Daily Brief for 9 October 2026 with five key developments from the CIS summit in Turkmenistan....
Leaders of countries from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) have agreed to hold coordinated population censuses around 2030. They took the decision at the CIS Council of Heads of State meeting in Awaza, Turkmenistan on Friday, media reported.
The Saudi-led coalition says it has carried out a series of military operations against Houthi targets in Yemen after attacks on two Saudi airports left three people dead and dozens injured.
Azerbaijan and the five Central Asian states have signed two key documents at the 8th Consultative Meeting of Heads of State in Turkmenbashi, formalising a broader framework for regional cooperation in transport, trade, energy, digitalisation and security.
It started with classrooms. Too many students, not enough teachers, deteriorating buildings and growing anxiety over what comes after high school. But within weeks, a movement that began outside French lycées had spread across the country.
Britain and Israel have reached a temporary compromise over the future of the British Consulate General in East Jerusalem, easing a diplomatic dispute that had threatened to further strain relations between the two countries.
Leaders of countries from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) have agreed to hold coordinated population censuses around 2030. They took the decision at the CIS Council of Heads of State meeting in Awaza, Turkmenistan on Friday, media reported.
Saudi Arabia has restored its vital East-West oil pipeline to near-full capacity, but escalating Houthi attacks on energy facilities, airports and transport infrastructure are raising fresh concerns over the security of its oil exports.
Here's your AnewZ Daily Brief for 9 October 2026 with five key developments from the CIS summit in Turkmenistan.
Saudi Arabia's civil aviation authority said on Friday that three Saudi nationals were killed and several people were injured in two attacks on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Thursday (8 October).
Several powerful explosions reported in the south of the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday may have been triggered by oil tankers hitting naval mines, Iranian state broadcaster IRIB has reported, citing unnamed military sources.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment