Israeli fire kills two Palestinians in north and central Gaza Strip

Two Palestinians were killed and another was injured on Sunday in Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip, the latest violations of the ceasefire in the territory which has theoretically been in place since October last year.

Medical sources said Salem Rouhi al-Sous, 33, was killed and Nabil Hassan al-Sous, 18, was injured in an explosion in the town of Beit Lahia in the northern part of the Strip.

Citing eyewitness, Anadolu Agency said an Israeli drone had dropped a bomb near the two men while they were near a school in the Atatra area northwest of Beit Lahia – an area from which Israeli forces had withdrawn under the ceasefire agreement.

Elsewhere, medical sources said Nassim Abu al-Ajeen, 20, was killed by Israeli gunfire east of Deir al-Balah in the central part of the territory. The shooting also happened in an area which Israeli forces had pulled out from.

Artillery shelling was also reported in the eastern areas of Gaza City’s Al-Tuffah neighbourhood, a district heavily damaged during the war.

The latest deaths bring the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli gunfire since the ceasefire to around 580, with more than 1,500 others wounded.

More than 72,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed and over 171,000 others wounded in the war since it began in October 2023, according to Gaza’s health authorities. Most of them have been women and children.

Progress in implementing the phases stipulated in the ceasefire deal has been slow, with Israel only recently reopening the vital Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt for the limited entry and exit of Palestinians.

The reopening of the vital border point was a crucial part of the ceasefire to help facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid, which Israel has continued to obstruct in violation of the terms of the deal.

The opening of the crossing is essential to allow sick and injured Palestinians to move abroad for treatment. At least 44 Palestinians were waiting for permission to cross into Egypt on Sunday.

The first phase of the ceasefire saw Palestinian group Hamas return all dead and alive captives it was holding in Gaza to Israel, in return for just under 2,000 Palestinian detainees held by Israel.

Around 9,300 Palestinians are still detained by Israel, which holds many of them without charge or trial and subjects them to abuse, torture, and starvation.

The second phase includes a US-led "Board of Peace" that will oversee post-war Gaza, including a committee of 12 Palestinian technocrats that will act as an interim authority in the Strip, managing its daily affairs.

But the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza has yet to enter the Palestinian territory to begin its work on the ground.

The deployment of an international peacekeeping force and the disarmament of all groups, including Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, are also stipulated under the ceasefire agreement.

Israel’s military, which still occupies more than half of Gaza and continues to bulldoze entire neighbourhoods near the de-facto buffer zone, must also fully withdraw from the Strip.