Israeli airstrikes killed four people and wounded 18 others in the southern Gaza Strip on Thursday, local health authorities said, as Israel and Hamas blamed each other for violations of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire that has lasted nearly six weeks.
The latest attacks struck two towns east of Khan Younis. Medics reported that one strike on a home in Bani Suhaila killed three people, including a baby, and injured 15 others. A second strike in nearby Abassan killed a man and wounded three. Israel’s military confirmed carrying out the strikes but said it had no information on casualties.
The exchange of accusations comes amid growing concern that violence could unravel a truce that has eased, but not ended, fighting across the enclave.
On Wednesday, Israel said its forces hit targets throughout Gaza after Hamas members fired on its troops. Gaza health officials said at least 25 people were killed in those attacks.
Read Also: Hadar Goldin Funeral Draws Tens Of Thousands In Israel
Hamas described the Israeli strikes as a “dangerous escalation” and appealed to Arab mediators, Turkey, and the United States to press both sides back toward restraint.
In Gaza City’s Zeitoun district, residents picked through debris from a building hit the previous day, where medics reported at least 10 deaths among families who had been displaced there earlier in the war. “They say there is a ceasefire but I doubt this,” resident Akram Iswair told Reuters. “Missiles struck the displaced, poor citizens. What can we, our women, and our families do?”
The ceasefire, reached on October 10 in the two-year war, has allowed hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to return to damaged neighbourhoods. Israeli troops have pulled back from several urban areas, and humanitarian aid deliveries have increased.
Even so, Palestinian health authorities say 312 people have been killed in Israeli strikes since the truce began, nearly half of them in a single day last week after Israel responded to an attack on its forces. Israel says three of its soldiers have been killed during the same period and that it has continued to target armed groups.
The war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people in southern Israel, most of them civilians, and seized 251 hostages, according to Israeli officials. Israel’s campaign in Gaza has since killed more than 69,000 people, most of them civilians, health authorities in Gaza say.
Under the terms of the ceasefire, Hamas released the last 20 living hostages it held in Gaza. In exchange, Israel freed nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and wartime detainees. Mediators say the arrangement remains fragile, and future talks are expected to focus on stabilising the ceasefire as violence continues.
