CAIRO, Jan 11 (Reuters) – Israeli gunfire killed at least three Palestinians in two separate incidents in the enclave, according to local health officials, as tensions rise due to continued violence since an October ceasefire.
Doctors said a Palestinian was killed in the Tuffah neighborhood of Gaza City, in an area under Palestinian control, while two others were killed in southern Gaza, in the town of Bani Suhaila, east of Khan Younis, an area that Israel still occupies.
The Israeli army said forces fired at a ‘terrorist’ who crossed into the area under its control in the north of the Gaza Strip, posing an immediate threat. A target has been identified, he added.
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There was no comment on the incident south of the enclave.
Fighting has largely subsided since Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas agreed to a ceasefire in October, two years after the war began, but has not fully ceased. Israel and Hamas exchanged accusations about violations of the agreement.
A Hamas official told Reuters on Sunday the group asked mediators to intervene to stop ‘Israel’s daily killings that aim to derail the ceasefire agreement.’
More than 440 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to Gaza health authorities, have been killed since the truce, as well as three Israeli soldiers.
(By Nidal al-Mughrabi)
