The Israeli military on Saturday killed two brothers, a nine-year-old and a ten-year-old, in southern Gaza as it continues to violate the US-backed ceasefire deal by launching attacks against Palestinians.
The boys were identified as Fadi and Juma Abu Assi, and according to family members, they had gone out to gather wood for their wheelchair-bound father in Bani Suheila, a town to the east of Khan Younis and close to the so-called “yellow line,” the de facto boundary that separates Israeli-occupied Gaza from the rest of the Strip.
Witnesses told Al Jazeera that the boys were killed when a drone dropped explosives on a group of civilians, and the report said that the attack occurred beyond the yellow line, contradicting the Israeli military’s statement on the attack. The IDF claimed it “eliminated two suspects” who crossed the yellow line and did not allege they were armed.
There have been other instances of the IDF claiming it killed Palestinians who crossed the yellow line when locals said the victims were killed when they weren’t close to the boundary. More than 90 Palestinians have been killed by the IDF for allegedly crossing or approaching the yellow line since the ceasefire was supposed to go into effect, according to Amnesty International.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said on Sunday that since October 11, Israeli forces have killed 356 Palestinians and wounded 908 Palestinians, and another 607 bodies of Palestinians killed by previous attacks have been recovered from the rubble.
The ministry said that since October 7, 2023, its total death toll has reached 70,103, and the number of wounded has climbed to 170,985. Several studies have found that the Health Ministry’s numbers are likely a significant undercount, including a recent one from a German research team, which said the real violent death toll is likely over 100,000.
