Israeli army launches airstrike in Gaza despite ceasefire deal

JERUSALEM

The Israeli army launched an airstrike in the Gaza Strip on Thursday despite a ceasefire agreement in the Palestinian territory.

A military statement claimed that the strike targeted a rocket launcher used to fire a rocket from inside the enclave.

According to witnesses, an Israeli drone fired a missile at an agricultural area east of the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza.

No injuries were reported.

There was no immediate Palestinian comment on the Israeli attack.

The ceasefire agreement has been in place in Gaza since Jan. 19, suspending Israel’s genocidal war that has killed more than 48,200 people, mostly women and children, and left the enclave in ruins.

The head of Israel’s Shin Bet domestic security agency, Ronen Bar, threatened military escalation in Gaza early Thursday, saying Israeli forces “remain on high alert for various scenarios.”

Israel has turned Gaza into the world’s largest open-air prison, maintaining an 18-year blockade and forcing nearly two million of its 2.3 million residents into displacement amid dire shortages of food, water, and medicine due to deliberate restrictions.