Gaza civil defence says Israeli fire kills four, including child

Palestinian Territories: Gaza’s civil defence agency said Thursday that Israeli fire killed four people, including one child, in different locations across the Palestinian territory.

Violence continues despite a ceasefire in the Gaza war that came into effect on October 10.

Saleh Badawi, 9, “was killed and taken to Al-Maamadani Hospital after being hit by Israeli fire in the Zeitoun neighbourhood, southeast of Gaza City”, in northern Gaza, Mahmoud Bassal, spokesman for the civil defence agency, told AFP.

He added that “two brothers” were killed earlier in the day “following an Israeli drone strike” near a school in Beit Lahia, also in the north, and another man, 38-year-old Mohsen Ouda Al-Dabbari, was “killed by Israeli fire” near Khan Yunis, in the south.

The Israeli army told AFP that it killed “two terrorists” in Beit Lahia on Thursday after they crossed the Yellow Line, which marks the boundary of the area under Israeli control, and approached its soldiers in a manner that constituted an immediate threat.

The army told AFP that it was verifying reports concerning the child and man killed in the south. The ceasefire followed more than two years of war.

At least 766 Palestinians have been killed since the truce came into effect, according to the Gaza health ministry, which is under Hamas control and whose figures are considered reliable by the United Nations.

The Israeli army has reported five soldiers killed since the start of the truce.

Media restrictions and limited access in Gaza have prevented AFP from independently verifying casualty figures or freely covering the fighting.