KHAN YUNIS: Gaza’s civil defense agency reported on Sunday that nine people were killed in Israeli airstrikes in southern Gaza.
On Saturday evening, strikes targeted police posts in the Al-Mawasi area, killing eight people, according to Mohammed al-Mughair, an official with the agency, which operates under Hamas. Among the deceased was a young girl, reported by the Palestinian news agency Wafa.
Images from Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis showed bodies wrapped in white shrouds being transported from the morgue.
Another individual was killed on Sunday at a roundabout in Khan Yunis after being struck by Israeli fire, Mughair added.
Funerals for the victims saw scenes of mourning, with one woman screaming amid grieving men and children. “Each day, the enemy hunts down and kills,” said Ahmed al-Sufi, a Palestinian who lost family members.
The Israeli army stated that it had “eliminated a cell of 10 armed Hamas members operating in central Gaza” overnight and had also killed another individual who had previously crossed into restricted areas.
Israel and Hamas continue to accuse each other of breaching the ceasefire, which has been in effect since October 10 and largely halted two years of conflict in the region.
Since the truce began, Israeli strikes have killed at least 702 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which operates under Hamas.
The United Nations regards the ministry’s figures as reliable.
