CAIRO, Jan 25 (Reuters) – Israeli firing in the northern Gaza Strip neighborhood of Tufa killed two Palestinians on Sunday and an Israeli drone wounded four others in a separate incident in Gaza City, local health authorities said.
An Israeli drone exploded on the roof of a multi-story building in Gaza City, injuring four civilians on a nearby street, medics said.
The Israeli military did not comment on either incident.
According to Israeli statistics, the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched an attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which reduced the Gaza Strip to rubble and killed 1,200 people.
Gaza’s health ministry said more than 71,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed by Israeli fire since then. It is said that at least 480 people have been killed by Israeli artillery fire since the ceasefire agreement came into effect in October last year.
Israel says four soldiers have been killed by Gaza militants since the ceasefire began. Both sides blamed each other for violations of the armistice.
Earlier this month, Washington announced that the plan was now entering its second phase, which expected Israel to further withdraw its troops from Gaza and Hamas to relinquish control of the area’s administration.
U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel on Saturday to discuss Gaza, two people familiar with the matter said, with local authorities reporting further violence in the enclave.
Meanwhile, in Khan Younis, more than a hundred people attended the funeral of a man killed by Israeli drone fire at the Nasser Hospital morgue on Saturday, offering special prayers before his body wrapped in a white shroud.
Fares Elhemat, a relative of the deceased, said at the funeral: “They are liars and there is no ceasefire.”
(Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Cairo. Additional reporting by Haseeb Alwazeer and Dawoud Abu Alkas in Gaza; Editing by Susan Fenton)
