An Israeli drone strike on Monday killed three Palestinians who were crossing a ceasefire line near the Morag corridor in central Gaza, hospital officials said.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to questions about the attack, which comes as Gaza awaits this week’s announcement of a “peace council” to oversee its governance.
Hamas said it would dissolve the existing government once a new council takes over the territory under a U.S.-brokered peace plan.
Gaza’s health ministry reports that more than 440 people have been killed since Israel and Hamas agreed to a moratorium on the two-year war last October. Each side has since accused the other of violating the ceasefire, which is still in its initial stages, and efforts are still underway to find the remains of the last Israeli hostage in Gaza.
The Israeli military controls the buffer zone covering more than half of Gaza, while the Hamas government retains jurisdiction over the remainder.
Israel has backed anti-Hamas groups throughout the war, including an armed group in southern Gaza that on Monday claimed responsibility for the killing of a senior Hamas police officer in Khan Younis.
The Hamas-run interior ministry said in a statement that Lieutenant Colonel Mahmoud al-Astar was shot dead in the Al-Mowasi region.
In a post on Telegram on Sunday, Hamas spokesman Hazem Qasim called for the accelerated establishment of a Palestinian committee of technical experts to govern Gaza.
Hamas and the rival Palestinian Authority have not yet announced the committee’s members, and it is unclear whether Israel and the United States will approve their names.
Officials said Trump will announce his appointments to the peace commission in the coming days.
Under Trump’s plan, the committee would oversee the new Palestinian government, the disarmament of Hamas, the deployment of international security forces, the further withdrawal of Israeli troops and reconstruction. So far, the United States has made little progress on these fronts.
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan participated in a video conference with the United States and other countries on Monday to discuss “preparations for the second phase” of the ceasefire agreement, according to Turkish officials. The talks were a continuation of meetings held in Miami in late December and also attended by officials from Egypt and Qatar.
Dozens of Palestinians, including medical staff, protested in Gaza City on Monday, demanding the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners still held in Israeli jails. The protest was organized by the Palestinian Prisoners’ Committee outside the International Committee of the Red Cross building in Gaza City.
Meanwhile, groups supporting Palestinian prisoners said Israeli authorities had confirmed the death of a detainee from Gaza.
Hamza Abdullah Abdulhadi Adwan died in prison on September 9, according to information received by his family from the Israeli military, the Prisoners’ Affairs Committee and the Palestinian Prisoners Association said in a statement on Sunday.
Adwan, a 67-year-old father of nine who suffers from serious health problems, was detained at the checkpoint on November 12, 2024. Two of his children were killed in the Gaza war.
According to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Affairs Commission, 87 Palestinian detainees have died in Israeli prisons since the war began, including 51 from Gaza. They said more than 100 detainees – some of whom have not been identified – died from torture, starvation, medical neglect and abuse.
___
Magdi reported from Cairo. Associated Press reporters Sam Metz in Jerusalem, Suzan Fraser in Ankara and Maryclaire Dale in Philadelphia contributed to this report.
___
For more information about AP’s Israel-Hamas coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war