At least nine people lost their lives today in the Gaza Strip as a result of Israeli operations, medical and security sources said. Among the victims are a 10-year-old child and a senior official of the Hamas police force.
With these deaths, the number of Palestinians killed since the October ceasefire between the parties came into effect has exceeded 1,100, according to data from health authorities in the enclave.
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Although the agreement ended large-scale military confrontations, tensions and episodes of violence have not ceased. In the same period, militants in Gaza have killed four Israeli soldiers.
Medical personnel report that the child Muataz Abu Shaar was shot dead by Israeli troops in the Rafah area, in southern Gaza.
Further north, in Jabalia, an Israeli airstrike hit a police post under Hamas control. As a result, at least seven individuals, including a pregnant woman, were killed and several others were wounded.
The Hamas-run Interior Ministry confirmed that among the dead was Mohammad Marwan Salem, the police chief for Jabalia, along with several other officers.
Police sources assert that Israel has intensified strikes on Hamas’s security apparatus and police stations, leaving dozens dead since October.
Israel insists on Hamas’s resignation from power in Gaza and its disarmament. The group has expressed willingness to transfer governance, but continues to oppose handing over its weapons.
Another airstrike was recorded in Khan Yunis, where doctors reported the killing of a 36-year-old man and the wounding of three other people.
So far, the Israeli armed forces have not issued any statement regarding the events in Rafah and Jabalia.
This new escalation coincides with the presence of a Hamas delegation in Cairo, where talks are underway to move forward with the second phase of the peace plan presented by US President Donald Trump for Gaza.
Sources close to the negotiations indicate that the issues of Hamas disarmament and the withdrawal of Israeli troops are on the table, but so far there has been limited progress toward a final agreement that would end the war.
Hamas considers Israel’s violation of the ceasefire as the main obstacle to moving to the second phase of the agreement.
According to estimates, almost the entire population of 2 million inhabitants of Gaza, most of whom have been displaced several times during the conflict, live crammed into a narrow coastal strip, mainly in makeshift tents or in the rubble of destroyed buildings.
Israeli authorities claim that during the October 7, 2023 attack, Hamas-led militants killed about 1,200 people in Israel. On the other side, Gaza’s Health Ministry reports that the number of Palestinians killed in the enclave since the start of the offensive has exceeded 73,000.
