UPDATE – Israeli army continues attacks on Gaza despite ceasefire agreement

UPDATES WITH MORE DETAILS

By Hosni Nedim, Ramzi Mahmoud, Betul Yilmaz and Rania Abu Shamala

GAZA CITY, Palestine / ISTANBUL (AA) - The Israeli army continued airstrikes in the Gaza Strip on Thursday despite a ceasefire agreement to end a 2-year deadly war in the Palestinian enclave, medics and witnesses said.

Medical sources told Anadolu that four civilians were injured in Israeli strikes targeting several areas in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City. Columns of smoke were reported rising from the targeted areas.

In the southern Gaza Strip, the Israeli army shelled various areas of Khan Younis, injuring three people.

Israeli warplanes and artillery also continued to shell several areas across the enclave, particularly the Tel Hawa and Sabra neighborhoods of Gaza City.

Heavy and continuous gunfire was also reported in Gaza City, witnesses said, with no available information yet about casualties.

The Israeli army also fired artillery shells at the coastal Al-Rashid Street in central Gaza, though no injuries were reported.

Witnesses said the shelling occurred as Palestinians gathered around Al-Rashid Street in preparation to return to their areas from where they were forcibly displaced under Israeli bombardment.

On Thursday, the Gaza Civil Defense appealed to residents in southern Gaza who wish to return to Gaza City not to move or attempt to return at this time until Israeli forces withdraw from the area.

It warned that “random movement at this stage could expose civilians to extreme danger.”

The latest Israeli attacks came despite a ceasefire agreement reached early Thursday between Hamas and Israel in Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh city, based on a plan presented by US President Donald Trump.

On Sept. 29, Trump unveiled a 20-point ceasefire plan for Gaza that includes the release of all Israeli captives in exchange for around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, a permanent ceasefire, and a gradual withdrawal of the Israeli forces from the entire Gaza Strip.

A second phase of the plan calls for the establishment of a new governing mechanism in Gaza without Hamas’ participation, the formation of a security force comprising Palestinians and troops from Arab and Islamic countries, and the disarmament of Hamas. It also stipulates Arab and Islamic funding for the new administration and the reconstruction of the Strip, with limited participation from the Palestinian Authority.

Arab and Muslim counties have welcomed the plan, but some officials have said that many details in it need discussion and negotiations to be fully implemented.

Since October 2023, Israeli attacks have killed nearly 67,200 Palestinians in the enclave, most of them women and children. The relentless bombardment has left Gaza largely uninhabitable, leading to widespread starvation and diseases.