Israeli airstrikes in Gaza killed at least 20 people and injured more than 80, local health officials said Saturday, in yet another test of a fragile ceasefire between the Palestinian militant group Hamas and Israel.
Witnesses and doctors said the first attack hit a car in the densely populated Rimal neighborhood, setting it on fire. It was not immediately clear whether the five dead were passengers in the car or passersby. Dozens of people rushed to put out the fire and rescue the victims.
Shortly after the attack on the car, the Israeli air force carried out two separate airstrikes against two houses in the city of Deir Al-Balah and the Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip, killing at least ten people and injuring several others, according to medics.
Later, a new Israeli airstrike on a house in western Gaza City killed at least five Palestinians and injured others, according to medics, raising the death toll to at least 20.
Exchange of accusations
The Israeli military said an armed man crossed into Israeli-controlled territory in Gaza and exploited “the humanitarian road in the area through which humanitarian aid enters southern Gaza”, calling the action a “flagrant violation of the ceasefire agreement”.
The military said it was attacking targets in Gaza in response.
A Hamas official in Gaza dismissed the Israeli military’s allegations as baseless and an “excuse to kill”, saying the group was committed to the ceasefire agreement. Israel and Hamas have repeatedly accused each other of violating the truce, concluded more than six weeks ago.
