13 including children killed as Israel strikes on Gaza despite ceasefire
Gaza: At least 13 people, including five children, were killed in Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip late on Thursday, according to the Hamas-run Gaza civil defense agency, despite a ceasefire that has largely halted fighting in the enclave.
According to the sources in a joint statement which was issued early on Friday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Shin Bet security confirmed carrying out the strikes. They said the attacks were in response to a “failed launch” of a missile from Gaza City toward Israel.
According to the reports, the strikes ‘precisely’ targeted Hamas operatives and infrastructure, which included tunnels that were used for launching rockets, in both northern and southern Gaza.
“The launch carried out from the Gaza Strip constitutes a blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement,” the statement said.
“The IDF and the Shin Bet view any breach of the agreement with the utmost severity and will continue to act against any attempt by terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip to carry out terrorist attacks against IDF forces or Israeli civilians.”
Early on Thursday, the IDF said a projectile was launched from the Gaza City area towards Israel but fell short inside the Gaza Strip. According to the sources, the military said it had then struck the launch site.
According to the reports, Mahmud Bassal, the spokesman of Gaza civil defense, told AFP that four people, including three children, were killed when a drone struck a tent sheltering displaced people in southern Gaza. Another drone strike near Khan Younis killed one man, the agency said.
In northern Gaza, an 11-year-old girl was killed near the Jabalia refugee camp, and one person was killed when a school was hit, according to the agency. Two additional people, including a child, were reported killed in separate attacks.
Later Thursday evening, four more people were killed in an air strike in a house in an eastern area of Gaza City. Bassal said rescue teams had begun searching for several people reported missing.
According to the reports, “The death toll has risen to 13 as a result of Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip since this morning in a clear violation of the ceasefire agreement,” Bassal said.
According to Gaza’s health ministry, at least 425 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire began. The figures cannot be independently verified and do not distinguish between civilians and fighters. During the same period, three Israeli soldiers have been killed, according to the IDF.
