GAZA: Israeli air strikes across the Gaza Strip killed at least five Palestinians on Monday, according to local health officials, as violence continued despite a ceasefire agreed in October.
Medics said two people were killed when an Israeli strike hit a crowd near a municipal public park in Gaza City. The area was crowded with families displaced by the war, and several other people were reportedly wounded, according to Al Jazeera News.
A separate strike targeted a vehicle in the Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood of western Gaza City, killing at least three people, health officials said. The Israeli military claimed that both attacks targeted Hamas fighters but did not provide evidence.
At al-Shifa Hospital, Gaza’s largest medical facility, relatives and friends gathered to pay their respects to two of the men killed in the attacks. Their bodies were later taken to a cemetery for burial.
Israel has intensified its attacks across Gaza in recent days. An Israeli strike in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza, killed two Palestinians on Sunday, including a three-year-old child. Israeli attacks on Saturday killed at least four more people, according to local officials.
“There is no ceasefire,” Amjad Abu Abdo, a relative of one of Monday’s victims, told Reuters. He said residents were living in fear of drones and possible attacks.
Gaza’s Ministry of Health said 1,313 Palestinians had been killed in Israeli attacks since the ceasefire took effect. The Palestinian Centre for Missing and Forcibly Disappeared Persons said between 4,000 and 5,000 people remained missing and were believed to be buried beneath the rubble.
The Israeli army said five of its soldiers had died since October, along with one civilian contractor.
Since the war began in October 2023, nearly 73,500 Palestinians have been killed and about 174,500 injured in Gaza, according to the territory’s Health Ministry. Most of the victims are reported to be women and children.
