Israel’s military has killed seven Palestinians, including two children, in Gaza and announced that it will allow the Rafah crossing to open exclusively for the exit of people from the war-torn territory.
The killings on Wednesday mark the latest Israeli violations of a United States-brokered ceasefire in Gaza and came after the military accused Hamas fighters of attacking and wounding four of its soldiers in southern Rafah, near the enclave’s border with Egypt.
The victims of Israel’s attacks included two Palestinians who were killed by Israeli gunfire in the Zeitoun neighbourhood of northern Gaza City and five who were killed in attacks on the southern al-Mawasi camp, medics said.
The bombings in al-Mawasi triggered a fire that engulfed several tents.
“Five citizens, including two children, killed and others injured, some seriously, as a result of an Israeli missile strike” in al-Mawasi, said civil defence spokesman Mahmoud Basal.
The slain children were aged eight and 10, sources at the Kuwaiti Hospital said, while another 32 Palestinians were wounded.
Some of the victims were severely burned, the Palestinian Wafa news agency reported.
Hamas condemned the al-Mawasi attack, describing it as a “war crime” that demonstrated Israel’s “disregard to the ceasefire agreement”. The Palestinian group demanded mediators – Egypt, Qatar and the US – restrain the Israeli military.
According to authorities in Gaza, Israeli forces have violated the ceasefire at least 591 times since it came into effect on October 10, killing at least 360 Palestinians and wounding 922 others.