Medical officials in Gaza report that four Palestinians were killed Sunday when Israeli forces conducted an airstrike in the northern part of the territory, marking another deadly incident that threatens an already unstable ceasefire.
According to local medics, the strike hit a group of individuals on Jaffa Street near the Darraj neighborhood in Gaza City, resulting in four fatalities and additional injuries.
Israeli military officials have not yet provided a response regarding the incident.
Both Hamas militants and Israeli forces have accused each other of breaking the ceasefire terms that were established last October, bringing an end to two years of intense warfare.
Gaza’s health ministry reports that Israeli military actions have resulted in at least 700 Palestinian deaths since the ceasefire took effect. Israeli officials state that four of their soldiers have been killed by militants during the same timeframe.
Last week, representatives from Hamas met with mediators from Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey in Cairo to provide their preliminary response to a weapons surrender proposal that was presented to the organization last month, according to two Egyptian sources and a Palestinian official.
The organization has informed mediators it will not consider disarmament discussions without assurances that Israel will completely withdraw from Gaza, as outlined in President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace” disarmament plan, three sources told Reuters on Thursday.
The question of Hamas giving up its weapons remains a major obstacle in negotiations to move forward with Trump’s plan for the Palestinian territory and strengthen the ceasefire agreement.
Israeli casualty figures show that Hamas’ attacks on October 7, 2023, resulted in 1,200 deaths.
The subsequent two-year Israeli military campaign has killed more than 72,000 Palestinians, with the majority being civilians according to Gaza health officials. The conflict has also caused widespread hunger, destroyed most structures, and forced repeated displacement of nearly the entire population.
