Israeli drone strike kills at least three Palestinians in northern Gaza
Wafa reported the Gaza City strike as Israeli forces said they killed four Hamas fighters in separate attacks.
By Daniel Okafor · Business Editor
2 min read
An Israeli drone strike killed at least three Palestinians in northern Gaza on Wednesday, according to the Palestinian Wafa news agency. The deaths add to continuing casualties in the enclave months after Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire in October.
Wafa, citing local sources, said the strike hit near al-Hilu station in Gaza City. The area includes a private specialist hospital and a fuel station, the agency reported.
The Israeli military said earlier on Telegram that it had killed four Hamas fighters in separate strikes in northern Gaza. It named them as Wael Mahmoud Ali Labad, Muaz Mohammad Hassan Ahmad, Sameh Abu Kamil and Akram Ashraf Hamad Labad.
The military did not provide evidence with its statement that the four men were Hamas fighters, Al Jazeera reported.
Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire in October, according to Al Jazeera. The outlet reported that large-scale combat has mostly paused, while Israeli attacks on Palestinians in Gaza have continued.
Gaza’s Government Media Office says at least 1,053 Palestinians have been killed and 3,406 wounded since the truce began. The office also says it has recorded 3,465 Israeli violations of the agreement.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health says 73,066 Palestinians have been confirmed killed and 173,514 injured since Israel launched its war in Gaza in October 2023.
Al Jazeera reported that during the ceasefire the Israeli military has also expanded the territory it controls inside Gaza and continued issuing forced displacement orders. The military has barred Palestinians from entering areas beyond the so-called Yellow Line, according to the outlet.
That restriction put about 53 percent of Gaza out of bounds for residents, Al Jazeera reported. By March, the area had grown to 64 percent of the enclave as the military displaced residents and levelled remaining buildings in those zones, according to the outlet.
On May 28, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had instructed the military to extend Israeli control to more than 70 percent of the Gaza Strip.
Under the ceasefire arrangement, the sides were expected to move to a second phase after Hamas released the remaining captives covered by the first stage in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, Al Jazeera reported. That phase was intended to include Hamas’s disarmament and a gradual Israeli military withdrawal from Gaza.
Negotiations have been stalled for months, according to Al Jazeera. The outlet reported that Hamas’s disarmament and the extent of an Israeli withdrawal remain the main obstacles.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.