By Nidal Al-Mughrabi and Jana Chowkir
CAIRO/DUBAI, Jan 8 (Reuters) – Israeli strikes killed at least 11 Palestinians in separate attacks in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, with medics saying the army was responding to failed rocket attacks by militants in the enclave.
At least four people, including children, were killed and three others injured in an Israeli airstrike on a tent in the western area of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, medics said. Another attack killed one person in the east of the city, which is operated by Israeli forces.
Later on Thursday, medics said one person was killed in an Israeli strike at a school sheltering displaced families in Jabaliya, northern Gaza, while another attack killed a man in a tent near Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
Four other people were killed in a separate attack in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City.
The Israeli military said it hit several Hamas fighters, rocket launch pits and what it described as “terrorist infrastructure” after rockets were fired into Israel from Gaza City territory.
The military said the rocket hit a Gaza hospital and accused Hamas of violating the ceasefire. A source in the Palestinian militant group told Reuters it was investigating the allegations.
The ceasefire agreed in October has not progressed beyond the first phase, under which major fighting has stopped, Israel has withdrawn from less than half of Gaza and Hamas has released hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and convicted prisoners.
Under future steps, US President Donald Trump’s plan envisions an internationally backed administration that would disarm Hamas, further withdraw Israel and rebuild Gaza.
But little progress has been made in the next phase. More than 400 Palestinians and three Israeli soldiers have been reported killed since the ceasefire took effect, and more than 2 million people in Gaza are now living in makeshift homes or damaged buildings where Israeli forces have withdrawn and Hamas has regained control.
Israel is awaiting the handover of the last hostages under the initial phase of the ceasefire. An Israeli official close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel will not move to the next phase of the ceasefire until Hamas returns the remains of the last Israeli hostages held captive in Gaza.
Israel has yet to open the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, another condition of the US-backed plan, saying it will do so only after the remnants are returned.
The ceasefire seems tenuous
Israel and Hamas have accused each other of major violations of the cease-fire agreement and are far from the more difficult steps envisioned for the next phase.
Israel continues airstrikes and targeted operations in Gaza. The Israeli military has said it views any attempt by militant groups in Gaza to attack Israel “extremely seriously”.
A Hamas official told Reuters on Thursday that the group had documented more than 1,100 Israeli violations of the ceasefire since October and had asked mediators to intervene. The violations included killings, injuries, artillery and airstrikes, house demolitions and detaining people, he said.
Hamas has refused to disarm and is reasserting its control. Israel has said it will take military action if Hamas does not disarm peacefully.
According to Israeli statistics, on October 7, 2023, militants led by Hamas killed approximately 1,200 people and kidnapped 251 people in Israel. Israel’s offensive in Gaza has killed more than 71,000 Palestinians since then, according to the territory’s health ministry.
(Reporting by Jana Chowkir in Dubai and Nidal Al Mugharbai in Cairo; Writing by Tala Ramadan; Editing by Gareth Jones, Peter Graf, Andrew Havens and Diane Craft)
