CAIRO: Israeli airstrikes in Gaza killed at least 14 people and wounded several others, local health authorities said on Saturday, in a further test of a fragile ceasefire between the Palestinian militant group Hamas and Israel.
Witnesses and medics said the first attack hit a car in the densely populated Rimal neighbourhood, setting it ablaze. It was not immediately clear whether the five dead were passengers of the car or included passersby. Dozens of people rushed to extinguish the fire and rescue the victims.
Shortly after the attack on the car, the Israeli air force carried two separate airstrikes on two houses in Deir Al-Balah city and Nuseirat camp, in the central Gaza Strip, killing at least five people and wounding several others, medics said.
Later on Saturday a new Israeli airstrike on a house in western Gaza City killed at least four Palestinians and wounded others, medics said, taking today’s death toll to at least 14.
The Israeli military said a gunman had crossed into Israeli-held territory in Gaza and exploited “the humanitarian road in the area through which humanitarian aid enters southern Gaza”, calling it a “blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement.
The military said it was striking targets in Gaza in response. A Hamas official in Gaza rejected the Israeli military’s allegations as baseless and an “excuse to kill”, saying the group was committed to the ceasefire agreement.