CAIRO: At least 10 people were killed and several others wounded on Monday when an Israeli airstrike hit an area outside a school sheltering displaced Palestinians, according to health officials.
The incident adds to growing violence that is straining a fragile US-backed ceasefire in Gaza.Witnesses and medics said tensions had already been rising before the strike, as clashes broke out between local residents and members of an Israeli-backed militia.
Residents alleged that the group attacked the school in an attempt to abduct individuals, sparking resistance from Palestinians in the area.During the clashes east of the Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza, Israeli drones reportedly fired two missiles, killing at least 10 people and injuring several others.
The strike occurred in a densely populated neighborhood largely inhabited by displaced families.It remains unclear how many of those killed were civilians. An eyewitness, Ahmed al-Maghazi, said militia members initially attacked the area before opening fire, prompting residents to defend their homes.
He claimed that Israeli forces then directly targeted the neighborhood.Later the same day, a leader of one of the Israeli-backed militias said in a video statement that five Hamas members had been killed.
Hamas has not immediately responded but has previously described such groups operating in Israeli-controlled areas as collaborators.In a separate incident on Monday, an Israeli airstrike killed one Palestinian and injured a child traveling on a motorbike in Gaza City, according to medics.
Another Palestinian was killed when Israeli forces opened fire on a vehicle in central Gaza, bringing the day’s death toll to at least 12.Hamas, which has governed Gaza since 2007, and Israel have accused each other of violating the ceasefire that began in October.
Gaza’s health ministry reports that at least 700 people have been killed by Israeli fire since the truce took effect, while Israel says four of its soldiers have died in Gaza during the same period.The renewed violence comes amid stalled negotiations over the next phase of a peace plan proposed by US President Donald Trump.
A key point of contention remains Hamas’s refusal to disarm.On Sunday, Hamas’s armed wing rejected calls for disarmament before Israel fully implements the first phase of the plan, saying such demands amount to an attempt to prolong what it describes as a genocide against Palestinians.
Israel’s military campaign in Gaza over the past two years has killed more than 72,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to local health authorities. The conflict has also caused widespread famine, extensive destruction, and the displacement of the majority of Gaza’s population.