The Israeli military killed at least four Palestinians in Gaza on Monday, according to the Palestinian news agency WAFA, as Israel continues to violate the US-backed ceasefire deal.
WAFA reported that the four Palestinians were killed by Israeli attacks in Gaza City in northern Gaza and Khan Younis in the south. “Medical officials said the victims were shot during ongoing operations by the occupying forces, underscoring the persistent danger faced by civilians across the occupied territory,” the news agency said.
The report also said Palestinians were injured by Israeli attacks later in the day in eastern Gaza City and Beit Lahia, which is further north. Israeli forces also blew up several residential buildings in Khan Younis.
The IDF released statements on Monday that said it killed Palestinians who allegedly crossed the “yellow line” in Khan Younis and northern Gaza. The IDF claimed the Palestinians posed a “threat,” but the statements did not allege they were armed.
The Israeli military has maintained a shoot-to-kill policy for anyone who approaches or crosses the yellow line, whether or not they’re armed. In many parts of Gaza, the yellow line, which is a boundary separating the Israeli-occupied side of Gaza from the rest of the Strip, is not clearly marked on the ground, and Palestinians have reported people being killed well beyond the line.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said on Sunday that since the ceasefire was supposed to go into effect, the IDF has killed at least 339 Palestinians in Gaza and wounded 871. The latest deaths, if confirmed by the Health Ministry, which counts bodies brought to hospitals and morgues, would bring the total number of Palestinians killed to 343.
The IDF also said on Monday that it was conducting operations against Hamas fighters trapped on the Israeli side of the yellow line in the southern city of Rafah. The US was reportedly pushing for an agreement to allow the Palestinian militants to travel to the other side of Gaza, but there’s no sign of the IDF allowing that.
“In recent weeks, IDF troops have been operating in the Rafah area in a concentrated effort to dismantle remaining terror tunnels and eliminate the terrorists hiding within them, while simultaneously dismantling above-ground terrorist infrastructure,” the IDF wrote on X. “17 terrorists emerged from an underground tunnel route—11 of them were eliminated, and 6 were taken for questioning.”
