Israel has blocked all food, medicine, fuel and other supplies from entering Gaza, it demands Hamas to accept changes in the two sides’ ceasefire deal.
Amid the fragile ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon, Israel carried out airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, southern Lebanon and southern Syria on Monday. In what the Israeli military said it was targeting militants, a child was killed among 10 people. In central Gaza, two strikes hit around the urban refugee camp of Bureij. One struck a school serving as a shelter for displaced Palestinians, killing a 52-year-old man and his 16-year-old nephew.
A US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah went into effect in late November ending the 14-month war between the two sides. Since the ceasefire in Gaza began in mid-January, Israeli forces have killed dozens of Palestinians who the military says approached its troops or entered unauthorised areas. The ceasefire’s first phase saw an exchange of some hostages held by Hamas in return for the freeing of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. Egypt, Qatar and the United States have been trying to mediate the next steps in the ceasefire.
Airstrike in Syria
In Syria, Israel seized a zone in the south after the fall of longtime autocrat Bashar Assad in December. As per the Syrian Civil Defence agency, the strikes hit a residential area in the southern Syrian city of Daraa, killing three people and wounding 19 others, including four children, a woman and three civil defence volunteers. It said two ambulances were damaged. Other strikes hit military positions near the city.
Israel says it is a preemptive security measure against the former Islamist insurgents who now run Syria, though their transitional government has not expressed threats against Israel. The Israeli military said it was targeting military command centers and sites in southern Syria that contained weapons and vehicles belonging to Assad’s forces. It said the materials’ presence posed a threat to Israel.
Airstrike in Gaza
In central Gaza, two strikes hit around the urban refugee camp of Bureij. One struck a school serving as a shelter for displaced Palestinians, killing a 52-year-old man and his 16-year-old nephew, according to officials at nearby Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, where the casualties were taken. The Israeli military said it struck militants planting explosives.
An earlier strike killed three men in Bureij. The Israeli military said the men were trying to plant an explosive device in the ground near Israeli troops. Gaza’s Hamas-led government said the men were collecting firewood.
Airstrike in Lebanon
In Lebanon, Israel said it struck two members of the Hezbollah militant group in the southern Lebanese town of Yohmor, who it said were “observation operatives.” Lebanon’s state news agency reported two people killed in the strike and two wounded. The military later said it carried out further strikes on Hezbollah sites in Lebanon, without specifying where.
(AP inputs)
