The deaths on Monday raised the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces since the ceasefire took effect in October to at least 422, according to Gaza health authorities.
By Asaye Bankole
Israel has carried out heavy artillery and helicopter attacks on southern Gaza despite a United States–brokered ceasefire. Officials said the strikes hit a tent sheltering displaced Palestinians, killing a five-year-old girl and her uncle.
The deaths on Monday raised the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces since the ceasefire took effect in October to at least 422, according to Gaza health authorities.
The Nasser Medical Complex in southern Khan Younis said the Israeli strike hit a tent in the coastal al-Mawasi area, killing people inside and wounding four others, including children.
Israel’s military said it had targeted a Hamas fighter who was planning an imminent attack on Israeli forces. However, it provided no evidence for the claim, and it was unclear whether the statement referred to the strike on the tent.
Despite the ceasefire, Israeli forces have continued near-daily attacks on Gaza and have kept restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid. Much of the territory has been left in ruins by the war, with Palestinian officials saying about 88 percent of buildings have been damaged or destroyed.
Most of Gaza’s two million residents are now living in tents, makeshift shelters, or damaged buildings in areas previously vacated by Israeli troops.
On Monday, the Palestinian Civil Defence said another home that had been damaged in earlier Israeli attacks collapsed in the central Maghazi refugee camp, killing a 29-year-old father and his eight-year-old son.
In a later statement, the rescue service said it was unable to respond to calls to remove hazards from damaged buildings because of a lack of equipment and ongoing fuel shortages.
The Gaza ceasefire, reached after more than two years of Israeli attacks that left over 71,000 people dead, is being rolled out in phases.
The initial phase involves the exchange of captives and prisoners, an increase in humanitarian aid, and the reopening of Gaza’s Rafah border crossing with Egypt.
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