Palestinian health officials reported that Israeli air strikes killed at least eight people in Gaza on Wednesday, including two children aged 10 and 6.
Medics said an Israeli air strike killed one person near a school in Gaza City. Twelve people were wounded in the two incidents. The Israeli military claimed it struck fighters in Gaza City but was unaware of casualties.
Another Israeli air strike hit a tent for displaced people in the al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, killing at least four people, including a 10-year-old child.
Later, Palestinian health officials said a six-year-old boy was killed by Israeli gunfire in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City. Another strike hit a vehicle west of the city, killing one person, bringing Wednesday's death toll to at least seven. An eighth death was later recorded, but details were not immediately available.
The Israeli military did not immediately comment on any of those incidents.
The latest killings come despite a US-brokered “ceasefire” agreed between Israel and Hamas in October last year. Although large-scale fighting has largely paused, Israeli attacks on Palestinians in the territory have continued.
According to the Gaza Health Ministry, Israeli army violations of the “ceasefire” have killed at least 1,084 people and wounded 3,491 since the truce took effect. The latest casualties bring the overall death toll in Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza since October 2023 to at least 73,110, with 173,599 injured, the ministry said.
Israel has also expanded its control of the enclave to about 11 percent beyond the so-called “Yellow Line” demarcating areas agreed in the truce.
Last week, a group of UN agencies and NGOs warned that the continued expansion of areas under Israeli control endangers civilians and relief efforts. Dozens of Palestinian families have already been forced to leave their homes near the line.
Meanwhile, the humanitarian situation in the Strip remains dire. In its latest report, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) recorded nearly 9,300 cases of chickenpox across more than 130 health facilities. “The rise in reported chickenpox cases is occurring in a displacement environment already marked by severe overcrowding, deteriorating hygiene conditions, and widespread environmental health hazards,” it said.
Source: www.aljazeera.com