UPDATE - 2 Palestinians killed in Israeli shelling of displacement tents, shelter in Gaza despite ceasefire

UPDATES DEATH TOLL, REVISES HEADLINE, DECK

By Ramzi Mahmud

ISTANBUL (AA) - Two Palestinians, including a child, were killed and several others wounded Monday in Israeli strikes targeting displacement tents and a shelter in the Gaza Strip despite a ceasefire agreement in the enclave, medical sources said.

The sources said a 3-year-old boy was killed and several people were injured when Israeli naval gunboats fired shells at tents housing displaced civilians along the coast of the al-Iqlimi area of al-Mawasi, west of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, with the casualties transferred to Nasser Medical Complex in the city.

A second Palestinian was killed and several others were wounded, including one in critical condition, after an Israeli quadcopter drone targeted a school sheltering displaced people in the northern town of Jabalia.

Separately, witnesses said Israeli military vehicles positioned east of the so-called Yellow Line, east of Khan Younis, opened heavy fire toward nearby areas.

The Yellow Line separates areas where Israeli forces are deployed, covering more than 50% of eastern Gaza, from western areas where Palestinians are allowed to move. The line is considered temporary under the first phase of the Oct. 10 ceasefire agreement, which calls for broader Israeli withdrawals leading to a full pullout from the besieged Palestinian territory.

Witnesses also said Israeli forces carried out demolition operations targeting buildings and facilities in the southern city of Rafah and in central Gaza.

Israel has continued to commit hundreds of ceasefire violations since the agreement, including shelling and gunfire that have killed and wounded hundreds of Palestinian civilians.

The violations have continued despite the US administration’s announcement in January that the second phase of the ceasefire agreement had begun. That phase includes additional Israeli withdrawals from Gaza and the launch of reconstruction efforts, which the United Nations estimates will cost about $70 billion.

The ceasefire ended an Israeli offensive that began Oct. 8, 2023, and lasted two years, killing more than 71,000 Palestinians and wounding over 171,000 others, while destroying about 90% of Gaza’s infrastructure.

*Writing by Lina Altawell