Gaza media accuses Israel of violating ceasefire 47 times, killing 38 Palestinians

Amid the simmering tensions in West Asia, the Gaza media office accused Israel of violating the ceasefire 47 times since Tel Aviv and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire in early October. In the course of this, the Gazan media claimed that the Israeli attack killed 38 Palestinians and injured 143 people across the Gaza Strip.

“These violations have included crimes of direct gunfire against civilians, deliberate shelling and targeting, and the arrest of several civilians, reflecting the occupation’s continued policy of aggression despite the declared end of the war,” the Gaza media office said in a statement.

“Authorities in Gaza called on the United Nations and the guarantor parties of the agreement to intervene urgently to compel the occupation to end its ongoing aggression and to protect unarmed civilian populations”.

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Rafah remains closed

Meanwhile, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the Rafah crossing – a crucial entry point for aid – would only reopen after Hamas hands over the bodies of all deceased hostages still held in Gaza. “Prime Minister Netanyahu has directed that the Rafah crossing remain closed until further notice,” a statement from his office on Saturday read. “Its reopening will be considered based on how Hamas fulfils its obligations to return the hostages and the bodies of the deceased, and to implement the agreed-upon terms.”

The Israeli military said late on Saturday that the  Red Cross had received the bodies of two hostages held in Gaza as part of a ceasefire deal. Amid the chaos, 11 members of a Palestinian family were killed by Israeli forces on Friday, described as the deadliest single violation of the fragile ceasefire since it took effect eight days ago.

In a statement, Gaza’s civil defence agency said the family were trying to reach their home in the Zeitoun neighbourhood of Gaza City when the bus they were in was attacked for allegedly crossing the “yellow line” that demarcates areas of Israeli army control.

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“They had crossed the so-called ‘yellow line’, an imaginary boundary mentioned by the Israeli army,” said Mahmoud Basal, the spokesperson for the Gaza civil defence. “I am certain the family couldn’t distinguish between the yellow and red lines because there are no actual physical markers on the ground.”

Meanwhile, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said a “suspicious vehicle was identified crossing the yellow line and approaching IDF troops operating in the northern Gaza Strip”, adding: “The troops fired warning shots toward the suspicious vehicle, but the vehicle continued to approach the troops in a way that caused an imminent threat to them. The troops opened fire to remove the threat, in accordance with the agreement.”

Israel and Hamas have continued to trade blame over breaches of the truce. Israel accused Hamas of violating the deal by failing to return the remains of deceased hostages. On Monday, Hamas returned the last 20 surviving hostages, but as of Saturday evening, it had handed back only 12 of 28 deceased captives, saying it would need specialist recovery equipment to retrieve the rest from the ruins of Gaza. Hence, one has to see how long the fragile ceasefire deal will last.