Israeli fire kills 5 Palestinians as it makes progress on a Gaza peace deal
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Israeli strikes killed five Palestinians, including two boys, in central and southern Gaza, local health authorities said, and the Israeli military said it had “destroyed” a Palestinian activist who posed a threat to the army.
Israel and the Palestinian terror group Hamas have traded repeated violations of an October ceasefire after two years of war that devastated Gaza and caused a humanitarian crisis, and remain at odds over the next steps in US President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan.
Palestinian doctors said three people, including a 10-year-old boy, were killed as a result of Israeli tank explosions in eastern Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. Two others, a 13-year-old boy and a woman, were killed in two separate Israeli shootings east of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, they said.
Residents say the two incidents took place in areas under Palestinian control. The ceasefire led to a withdrawal of Israeli forces, leaving Israeli forces in control of about 53 percent of the area, but they have been increasing their presence in recent weeks, leading to further displacement of Palestinian families, residents told Reuters.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the two incidents.
Earlier on Wednesday, it said in a statement that the Israeli army had killed a “terrorist” who had crossed into an area under its control, posing a threat to the soldiers working there. The soldiers did not testify.
Andrew Chang explains what US $1 billion buys members of Trump’s Peace Council. Photos provided by The Canadian Press, Reuters and Getty Images
The October deal brokered by the US did not go beyond the first phase of the ceasefire, in which heavy fighting stopped, some Israeli forces withdrew and Hamas released hostages and returned Palestinian prisoners and convicted prisoners.
Under the next phases, the details of which have not yet been made clear, Hamas must disarm, Israeli forces withdraw and an internationally-backed administration be installed to rebuild the devastated, heavily populated area.
But there is no timetable set for the implementation of the scheme.
On Thursday, Trump was supposed to host an event celebrating the Peace Board, a group he founded with the stated goal of redeveloping the coast.
Israel says it can move to the second phase only after Hamas hands over the remains of the last Israeli hostages.
On Wednesday, Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said the Islamist group had shared all the information it had about the body of the last hostage and searched for it but to no avail, accusing what it called obstruction of the Israeli army.
More than 460 Palestinians and three Israeli soldiers have been reported killed in clashes since the ceasefire began.
Israel launched its air and ground war in Gaza after a Hamas-led cross-border attack on October 7, 2023, killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli figures. Israel’s offensive has killed 71,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
