CAIRO/GAZA, April 23 - Palestinian health authorities reported that Israeli airstrikes on Thursday killed at least four Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Local medics said one person died in a strike in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, and that several others were wounded. Israel's military said that strike targeted militants who were transporting munitions and who, it said, posed a threat to Israeli soldiers.
Health officials also reported that three other people were killed in a separate attack in Maghazi, a Palestinian refugee camp in the Deir al Balah area in central Gaza. Among the dead in Maghazi was a rescue worker. Israel's military had no immediate comment on that strike.
The attacks happened against the backdrop of continuing exchanges despite a U.S.-brokered ceasefire that came into effect in October. Both Israel and Hamas have accused the other side of breaching the terms of the truce, and there is no mechanism in place to enforce it.
Since the ceasefire began, four Israeli soldiers and more than 780 Palestinians have been reported killed in Gaza, according to the figures cited by officials.
In Gaza City, at the territory's largest medical facility, Al Shifa Hospital, relatives and mourners gathered for a burial. They laid to rest five people, including three children, who were killed on Wednesday in an Israeli airstrike on a northern Gaza town. Relatives attending the burial voiced despair about the security situation.
"There is no ceasefire, no truce, nothing at all," said Mohammed Baalousha, a relative of one of the victims. "There is no safety in any area."
On the northern strike that killed five people the previous day, Israel's military has not commented.
Context and immediate developments
The incidents reported on Thursday add to a pattern of repeated strikes in Gaza since the ceasefire took effect in October. Reports from local medics and health officials provide the primary casualty counts cited, while the Israeli military has selectively confirmed specific operations, saying in one instance it targeted militants transporting munitions.
Humanitarian and operational consequences
- Medical facilities in Gaza remain a focal point for casualty treatment and burials, with Al Shifa Hospital receiving mourners and handling the aftermath of recent strikes.
- The death of a rescue worker in Maghazi highlights risks faced by emergency responders operating in areas struck by airstrikes.
No new enforcement mechanism for the ceasefire is reported, and officials from both sides continue to accuse each other of violations.