An Israeli airstrike resulted in the deaths of four Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip, as confirmed by local health authorities on Sunday. The incident occurred on Jaffa Street near the Darraj neighborhood in Gaza City, where a group of individuals was targeted, resulting in four fatalities and several injuries.
The Israeli military reported that the strike was conducted in response to a Palestinian militant cell operating near their forces in the northern Gaza Strip, posing an immediate threat. Both Palestinian militant group Hamas and Israel have been accusing each other of violating the ceasefire agreement established last October, which ended a two-year period of intense conflict.
According to the Gaza Health Ministry, Israeli actions have led to the deaths of approximately 700 individuals since the ceasefire began, while Israel claims that four of its soldiers have been killed by militants in Gaza during the same timeframe.
Hamas engaged in discussions with Egyptian, Qatari, and Turkish mediators in Cairo recently to address a disarmament proposal presented to them the previous month. The group emphasized that they will not consider relinquishing their arms without solid assurances that Israel will fully withdraw from Gaza, as outlined in a disarmament strategy proposed by the Board of Peace established by U.S. President Donald Trump. The issue of Hamas’s disarmament remains a crucial point in the negotiations to implement Trump’s plan for Gaza and solidify the ceasefire.
Reports indicate that Hamas’s attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, resulted in the deaths of 1,200 individuals according to Israeli records. In response, Israel launched a campaign over the following two years that led to the deaths of over 72,000 Palestinians, predominantly civilians, according to Gaza health authorities. The campaign also caused widespread famine, extensive destruction of buildings, and forced the displacement of the majority of the territory’s population on multiple occasions.