Israeli strikes killed at least eight Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, including five police officers, in two separate attacks, according to medics and the Hamas-run interior ministry, The Express Tribune reported, citing Reuters.
Two strikes, eight dead
Medics said three people were killed in an Israeli air strike in Gaza City. The interior ministry said five police officers were killed in another strike in western Khan Younis in the south. Emergency services and local hospitals told other outlets that eight people, including a child, were killed, with five dead in Khan Younis and three in Gaza City, according to civil defence.
The Israeli military said it had struck several militants in Khan Younis but gave no further information. It did not immediately comment on the Gaza City strike. The claim that those killed were militants comes from the Israeli military and could not be confirmed by the reports we drew on; the interior ministry says they were police officers.
The ceasefire in name
The US-brokered ceasefire took effect a year ago and calls for the eventual reconstruction of the territory. Little progress has been made, because negotiators have not agreed on terms for Hamas to disarm or for Israel to withdraw its troops. Israeli forces control about two-thirds of Gaza and have ordered residents out of that area. Nearly all of the more than 2 million Palestinians live in the remaining third, among the ruins of the war, in makeshift tents and damaged buildings.
Israel says Hamas has been rearming and launching attacks in violation of the ceasefire, and has stepped up its strikes in recent weeks. Hamas denies trying to carry out attacks or rebuild its arsenal and accuses Israel of undermining the Gaza peace deal.
The toll
According to Gaza’s health officials, at least 1,500 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since the ceasefire, while Israel says four of its soldiers have died. Palestinian authorities say more than 74,000 people have been killed in Israel’s assault on Gaza, launched after Hamas-led fighters killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel on October 7, 2023. Our reports on the Gaza death toll passing 74,000 with the ceasefire stalled and on Gaza one year after the ceasefire show how the truce has failed to hold.
Why it matters
Five of the dead were police officers, and Reuters notes that Hamas still holds effective control of the part of Gaza where residents live, so strikes like this bear on any plan for the territory’s day after. The numbers also show a pattern: a ceasefire that is meant to protect civilians has seen about 1,500 people killed in a year, an average of well over 100 a month, in a place where most families shelter in tents. The questions that remain are whether the mediators will press Israel to stop the strikes, whether talks on disarmament and withdrawal restart, and who will provide for the two million people living in the shrinking part of Gaza that is not under Israeli control.
This article draws on reporting by The Express Tribune and Reuters.
Comments
Comments are reviewed by our editors before they appear. Please keep them civil and on topic. See our terms.
No comments yet. Be the first to share your view.