Israel launched a deadly airstrike on the Gaza Strip, Palestinian officials said
Listen to this article
Average 4 minutes
The audio version of this article was created by AI-based technology. It can be mispronounced. We are working with our partners to continuously review and improve the results.
Israel fired airstrikes into the Gaza Strip on Sunday, killing at least 11 people, Palestinian officials said, in what the military called a response to ceasefire violations by the Palestinian terror group, Hamas.
Doctors in Gaza said an Israeli strike on a tent housing displaced families killed at least four people, while health officials said another strike killed five in Khan Younis in the south and another was shot dead in the north.
Airstrikes also targeted what was believed to be a commander of the Islamic Jihad group, an affiliate of Hamas, in the Tel Al-Hawa area of Gaza City.
Hazem Qassem, a spokesman for Hamas in Gaza, accused Israel of committing a new “massacre” against Palestinian refugees, calling it a major violation of the ceasefire days ahead of the first meeting of US President Donald Trump’s “Peace Board”.
An Israeli army chief called Sunday’s strikes “precise” and in line with international law, saying the group had repeatedly violated the October ceasefire.
The Gaza Health Ministry says at least 600 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the ceasefire agreement began. Israel says four soldiers were killed by Gaza forces at the same time.
Israel and Hamas traded violations of the cease-fire agreement, which is a key element of Trump’s plan to end the war in Gaza, the deadliest and most destructive conflict in generations of Israeli-Palestinians.
ThThe Israel-Hamas war began when Hamas invaded southern Israel On October 7, 2023, more than 1,200 people died, according to Israeli statistics. Israel’s air and ground war in Gaza has killed more than 72,000 people since then, according to data from the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ meeting on Thursday
“In recent hours, the IDF [Israel Defence Forces] has started a strike because of Hamas’ deliberate violation of the cease-fire agreement yesterday in the Beit Hanoun area,” said an Israeli military official.
The official said the terrorists emerged from the tunnel on the Israeli side of the “yellow line” agreed under the decision to delimit areas controlled by Israel and Hamas.
“Crossing the yellow line near IDF soldiers, while armed, is a clear violation of the ceasefire – and shows how Hamas violates the peace agreement with the intention of harming IDF soldiers,” the official said.
Israel has moved deeper into the yellow line in Gaza independently even though Israel’s withdrawal is part of the ceasefire agreement, and Hamas has so far refused demands to lay down its weapons, which is also proposed in the plan. Israel has said it will have to force Hamas to disarm if it does not.
Qassem, the Hamas spokesman, urged those who attended the first meeting of Trump’s new international peace council in Gaza on Thursday to pressure Israel to stop violating the agreement and make a deal without delay.
US officials told Reuters last week that Trump will announce a multibillion-dollar Gaza reconstruction plan and details of United Nations-sanctioned military plans to stabilize the Palestinian enclave at a meeting in Washington, DC.
US President Donald Trump launched his ‘Peace Board’ with the first goal of rebuilding Gaza. The 35 signatories include regional powers in the Middle East such as Israel, Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, but traditional US allies have been wary of joining.
US officials told Reuters last week that Trump will announce a multibillion-dollar Gaza reconstruction plan and details of United Nations-sanctioned military plans to stabilize the Palestinian enclave at a meeting in Washington, DC.
The Israeli army said it continued to destroy underground tunnels in the northern Gaza Strip in accordance with the agreement and that its warplanes attacked a building east of the yellow line after seeing soldiers exiting the tunnel, killing at least two of them. Gaza officials had no knowledge of the reported casualties.
