An Israeli airstrike resulted in the deaths of four Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip on Sunday, as reported by local health authorities. The incident occurred near the Darraj neighborhood in Gaza City, where a group of individuals on Jaffa Street was targeted, resulting in casualties and injuries.
The Israeli military confirmed that the airstrike was in response to a Palestinian militant cell operating in close proximity to their forces in the northern Gaza Strip, posing an immediate threat. Both Palestinian militant group Hamas and Israel have been accusing each other of violating the ceasefire agreement reached last October, following two years of intense conflict.
Since the ceasefire began, the Gaza Health Ministry has reported at least 700 Palestinian fatalities due to Israeli fire, while Israel has stated that four soldiers have been killed by militants in Gaza during the same period. In recent developments, a Hamas delegation held discussions with Egyptian, Qatari, and Turkish mediators in Cairo regarding a disarmament proposal. Hamas expressed reluctance to consider disarming without assurances that Israel would fully withdraw from Gaza, as outlined in a disarmament plan proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace.
According to Israeli records, Hamas’s attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, resulted in the deaths of 1,200 individuals. In response, Israel’s subsequent two-year offensive led to the deaths of over 72,000 Palestinians, predominantly civilians, according to health authorities in Gaza. The campaign has also caused widespread destruction of buildings, food shortages, and forced displacement of the local population multiple times.