GAZA CITY, Palestine: Israeli air strikes and gunfire killed at least nine Palestinians, including two children, across the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, Palestinian health officials and medics said, as violence continued despite a US-mediated ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
The deaths came as efforts to secure a permanent end to the war remained stalled, with Israel and Hamas continuing to trade accusations of violating the ceasefire that took effect in October last year.
Mahmoud Bassal, spokesman for Gaza’s civil defence agency, said nine people were killed in a series of Israeli attacks involving air strikes and gunfire.
According to medics, an Israeli air strike killed one person near a school in Gaza City and wounded several others.
The Israeli military said it had targeted Palestinian fighters in Gaza City but was unaware of civilian casualties.
Another Israeli strike hit a tent sheltering displaced families in the Al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, killing at least four people, including a 10-year-old child.
Later on Wednesday, Palestinian health officials said a six-year-old boy was killed by Israeli gunfire in the Zeitoun neighbourhood of Gaza City.
Medics said two additional Israeli strikes in different parts of Gaza City killed three more people and wounded several others, bringing Wednesday’s death toll to at least nine.
Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis said it received the bodies of four people killed in the strike on the tent camp for displaced families. The victims ranged in age from 10 to 39 years and included a woman.
The hospital also said it received the body of Ahmad Salim, a truck driver who was killed by Israeli fire in Al-Mawasi.
The Israeli military said Salim had run towards soldiers who were questioning other truck drivers. It said troops opened fire after perceiving “an immediate threat”.
Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City said it received the bodies of a child killed by Israeli fire east of the city and a man killed in an air strike west of Gaza City.
The hospital also received the body of a man killed in an Israeli strike on a vehicle in Gaza City. The Israeli military confirmed to AFP that it had carried out that air strike.
The military said it was examining the other reported incidents.
Israel has continued to carry out military operations in Gaza since a US-mediated ceasefire with Hamas came into force in October, saying it is targeting fighters who threaten Israeli forces or participated in the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
Hamas has repeatedly accused Israel of violating the ceasefire agreement.
Nikolay Mladenov, head of the Board of Peace established under US President Donald Trump’s peace plan, has said both Israel and Hamas have breached the ceasefire.
According to figures released by the two sides, more than 1,080 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and between four and five Israeli soldiers have been killed since the ceasefire began.
