GAZA CITY: Gaza’s civil defence agency said 21 people were killed and dozens more wounded in multiple Israeli air strikes on the Palestinian territory on Saturday, further straining the fragile truce between Israel and Hamas.
Both sides have accused each other of violating the ceasefire, which came into effect on October 10.
The Israeli military said an “armed terrorist” had crossed the so-called Yellow Line boundary within the Gaza Strip, behind which Israeli troops have withdrawn, and fired at soldiers, in a “blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement”.
The Israeli military said that in response to the incident in southern Gaza, on a route used for humanitarian aid deliveries in the territory, it “began striking terror targets in the Gaza Strip”.
Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for the civil defence agency which operates under Hamas authority, told AFP there were “21 martyrs this evening in five separate Israeli air strikes, in a clear violation of the ceasefire in Gaza”.
New Israeli strikes on Gaza, civil defence says three dead
AFP has sought a comment from the Israeli military on Saturday’s air strikes.
The first reported strike targeted a vehicle in the Al-Rimal neighbourhood in western Gaza City.
An AFP photographer at the scene witnessed the burned-out car.
Passers-by approached the wreckage, with children appearing to be trying to salvage food from inside.
Israel and Hamas agreed to a US-brokered ceasefire that came into effect last month after more than two years of war.
On Wednesday, Gaza saw one of its deadliest days since the truce between Israel and Hamas came into effect, with officials reporting 27 fatalities.
According to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza on Thursday, 312 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the truce took hold.
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