GAZA CITY, Palestine/ ISTANBUL

Four Palestinians were killed and others injured in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on Saturday, marking a new violation of a fragile ceasefire agreement in the enclave, a medical source told Anadolu.

The source said the fatalities occurred when an airstrike hit a civilian car on Al-Rashid coastal road west of Gaza City.

The Israeli army claimed that the attack targeted senior Hamas member Raed Saad in Gaza City.

A military statement said that Saad was killed in the attack.

Army Radio earlier described Saad as the “second-ranking figure” in Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The broadcaster said Saad was attacked while traveling in a car west of Gaza City.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz claimed that the Hamas member was targeted in response to the explosion of a bomb that injured two soldiers in southern Gaza.

Hamas, for its part, called the attack a “criminal violation of the ceasefire agreement, which was signed in accordance with the plan of US President Donald Trump.”

“This crime once again confirms that the occupation is deliberately seeking to undermine and sabotage the ceasefire agreement by escalating its ongoing violations,” it said in a statement.

The group called on mediators and countries guaranteeing the agreement to assume their responsibilities regarding “these blatant violations” and to take urgent action “to restrain the fascist occupation government, which is reneging on its obligations under the agreement and seeking to undermine and destroy it.”

The Israeli army has repeatedly violated the ceasefire, killing at least 386 Palestinians and injuring 1,018 others since the deal took effect on Oct. 10.

Israel has killed more than 70,300 people, mostly women and children, and injured over 171,000 in attacks in Gaza since October 2023, which have continued despite the truce.