Israel Strikes Gaza Again, Five Killed
Palestinian authorities said Israeli strikes killed five people in Gaza, in the latest round of attacks amid international calls to continue the peace plan. The civil defence agency, which serves as a rescue service under Hamas, said the bodies of three people were found torn to pieces after an Israeli strike in the town of Al-Qarara, east of Khan Yunis, on Friday local time. Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis identified the three victims and said they were from the same family; two were aged 42 and one was aged 28. An Israeli military spokesman, when contacted by AFP, said the military was investigating the incident. Gaza authorities later reported two additional deaths, including one from a drone strike near Gaza City.
The latest deaths came on the same day Israel launched a rare air strike in the occupied West Bank. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the strike killed militants who were planning an attack from the Palestinian territory. Israel has continued to pound the Gaza Strip and its forces have pushed further in despite a US-brokered ceasefire announced in October last year. Israel insists it must eliminate the threat from Hamas, the group that led an unprecedented attack on Israel on 7 October 2023.
Nickolay Mladenov, the high representative for Gaza under the Board of Peace established by US President Donald Trump to implement the agreement, said on Thursday that Israel’s deadly strikes were making it difficult for Gazans to feel the impact of the ceasefire, which he said remained in force. “Every use of force that does not respond to an immediate threat, and every incident whose resolution does not involve a deconfliction mechanism, has a detrimental impact on this process that is very difficult to restore,” he told the UN Security Council. He said Hamas had also not fulfilled its commitments, including on disarmament, even though the group had pledged to do so by the end of last month.
Israel has warned of retaliation over kite flying in Gaza after a number of kites crossed the border into Israeli territory, prompting some parents to ban their children from flying kites. In previous years, kites and balloons carrying explosives were flown from Gaza. The objects flown recently did not carry explosives, although at least one was reported to bear a political message. Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Thursday that the deadline for halting the kite flights had passed. He warned, as quoted by Israeli media, that “every launch is in itself an act of terrorism, and we will treat it as such.”