Gaza civil defence says 21 killed in Israeli strikes
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GAZA CITY: Gaza’s civil defence agency said 21 people were killed on Saturday (Nov 22) in multiple Israeli air strikes, as Hamas and Israel again traded accusations of violating the fragile ceasefire.
Saturday marked one of the deadliest days since the US-brokered truce took effect on Oct 10 after two years of war.
The Israeli military said an “armed terrorist” had crossed the so-called Yellow Line inside Gaza, behind which Israeli forces have withdrawn, and fired at soldiers on a route used for humanitarian aid deliveries.
In response, the military said it “began striking terror targets in the Gaza Strip”.
Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for the civil defence agency operating under Hamas authority, told AFP there were “21 martyrs this evening in five separate Israeli air strikes, in a clear violation of the ceasefire in Gaza”.
He said the dead included seven people killed and more than 16 wounded in a strike on a house in Nuseirat in central Gaza, and four killed in an air strike on a residential apartment in the Al-Nasr district west of Gaza City.
VEHICLE STRIKE AMONG MULTIPLE HITS
The first reported strike targeted a vehicle in the Al-Rimal neighbourhood of western Gaza City. Five people were killed and several wounded, Bassal said.
An AFP photographer saw passers-by approach the wreck of the burnt-out car, with children attempting to salvage food from inside.
AFP has sought comment from the Israeli military.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office accused Hamas of breaching the truce.
“Today, Hamas violated the ceasefire again, sending a terrorist into Israeli-held territory to attack IDF soldiers. In response, Israel eliminated five senior Hamas terrorists,” his office said on X.
“Israel has fully honoured the ceasefire, Hamas has not. Throughout the ceasefire, dozens of Hamas terrorists have crossed the Israeli lines to attack our troops.”
HAMAS URGES MEDIATORS TO STEP IN
Hamas said the “escalation” in Israeli strikes was an attempt to undermine the truce and called on mediators to intervene urgently.
“We affirm our rejection of all attempts by the Netanyahu government to impose a de facto reality that contradicts what was agreed upon,” the group said.
On Wednesday, Gaza witnessed one of its deadliest days since the truce began, with officials reporting 27 deaths.
According to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, 312 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the ceasefire took effect.
The war erupted after Hamas’s Oct 7, 2023 attack on Israel that killed 1,221 people.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed at least 69,733 people in Gaza, according to health ministry figures the UN deems credible.
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