Gaza’s civil defence agency said yesterday that nine people were killed in Israeli strikes in the south of the Palestinian territory.
On Saturday evening, “Israeli strikes hit police posts... in the Al-Mawasi area” killing eight, said Mohammed al-Mughair, an official at the agency which operates under Hamas authority.
Another person was killed yesterday “after being hit by fire from Israeli forces” at a roundabout in Khan Yunis, Mughair told AFP.
According to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa, a young girl was among the dead on Saturday night.
AFP images showed bodies being transported from the morgue of Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis then laid out on the ground, wrapped in white shrouds.
During the funerals, one woman was screaming, surrounded by crying men and children.
“Each day, the enemy hunts down and kills,” said Ahmed al-Sufi, a Palestinian who had lost family. Asked about the strikes by AFP, the Israeli military did not immediately respond.
It did, however, issue a statement in which it said it had “eliminated” overnight “a cell of 10 armed fighters from Hamas operating in the centre” of Gaza, as well as another person the day before who had repeatedly crossed the yellow line behind which Israeli forces in Gaza have withdrawn.
Israel and Hamas continue to accuse each other of violating the ceasefire in place since October 10 that largely halted two years of war in the territory. Israel has continued to strike Gaza, killing at least 702 Palestinians since the start of the ceasefire, according to the Gaza health ministry, which also operates under Hamas authority.
The UN considers the ministry’s figures to be reliable.
Media restrictions and limited access in Gaza have prevented AFP from independently verifying casualty figures or freely covering the fighting.