Israeli army kills 6 Palestinians in Gaza despite ceasefire

JERUSALEM / ISTANBUL

The Israeli army killed four Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, in the latest violation of a ceasefire agreement.

A military statement claimed that six people were hit in eastern Rafah after they “most likely emerged” from an underground infrastructure in the area.

The army added that four of them were killed and two others detained.

According to Israeli media, nearly 200 Hamas fighters are trapped in underground tunnels in Rafah, which lies inside areas still occupied by Israeli troops as part of the “yellow line” arrangements under the ceasefire deal that took effect on Oct. 10.

Tel Aviv has not responded to demands from the Palestinian group and mediators to allow them safe passage to areas not controlled by Israel inside Gaza.

There was no comment from Hamas on the Israeli attack in Rafah.

Meanwhile, two more Palestinians were killed when an Israeli drone shelled a group of civilians near the Beit Lahia Roundabout in the northern Gaza Strip, medical sources said.

Witnesses told Anadolu that an Israeli drone opened fire on a gathering of Palestinians in an area from which the army had previously withdrawn under the ceasefire agreement.

The attacks marked the latest violation of the ceasefire reached between Hamas and Israel, which went into effect on Oct. 10 under Egyptian, Qatari and Turkish mediation with US backing.

According to Palestinian figures, at least 342 people have been killed by Israeli army fire since the ceasefire.

Since October 2023, the Israeli army has killed nearly 70,000 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, and injured 171,000 others in a brutal war that has left much of the enclave in ruins.