GAZA CITY, Palestine: An Israeli air strike killed five police officers and a child in northern Gaza on Saturday, a hospital in the Palestinian territory said.
The al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City said it received six bodies, including those of five police officers and a child born in 2011.
Gaza’s civil defence agency said six people were killed and “a certain number of injured” after an air strike hit a police site in the al-Tuam area in northern Gaza.
The Gaza police force said five of its officers were killed in the strike. It said two missiles hit a police site in the al-Tuam area.
A witness said the attack targeted a tent used by police near a checkpoint.
A ceasefire has been in place since October, but Israel reserves the right to strike targets it deems a threat.
Gaza, however, has continued to witness near-daily violence, with both Israel and Hamas accusing each other of violating the truce.
The Palestinian territory’s interior ministry said 42 police officers have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire took effect.
Hamas condemned the latest attack, calling it “a crime” against police officers intended “to spread chaos in the Gaza Strip”.
At least 890 Palestinians have been killed since the October 10 ceasefire, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
The ministry has also reported that the war has killed at least 72,775 Palestinians since the conflict began, including 883 deaths since the ceasefire took effect.
The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA said in recent days that children in Gaza are increasingly suffering from skin infections due to rising infestations of rats, lice, fleas and mites.
UNRWA said its health teams are able to treat only about 40 percent of cases. It added that basic medicines are in short supply.
“In Gaza, basic medicines are in short supply and many children are left without the treatment they need,” the agency said.
