Israeli forces killed at least nine Palestinians in Gaza in strikes on Saturday, according to the Gaza health ministry, the latest in a string of Israeli attacks on the enclave that have kept up despite a roughly two-month-old truce with Hamas.
Since the cease-fire went into effect in mid-January, the military has conducted constant strikes in Gaza. Israel has accused militants of threatening its forces by laying explosive devices, flying drones or by approaching where Israeli troops are deployed.
Hamas has claimed those attacks have killed more than 150 people since the truce took effect, at least some of them civilians. And it has accused Israel of repeatedly violating the agreement by continuing military operations.
On Saturday, the Israeli military said it struck two militants who were operating a drone that posed a threat, and then struck a vehicle carrying others who had arrived to collect the drone operating equipment. It did not elaborate on how they posed a threat to Israeli troops.
Ismail Thawabteh, the director-general of the Hamas-controlled government media office in Gaza, said the nine Palestinians killed in the strike were working for a charity. The identities and statuses of those killed could not be independently verified.
The Israeli military said earlier on Saturday that it had struck three militants in central Gaza who were attempting to install explosive devices on the ground near Israeli soldiers. Officials in the Gaza health ministry did not respond to requests for comment.
The steady drumbeat of Israeli strikes is a reminder that while Israel and Hamas have reached an agreement that paused most fighting in Gaza, a comprehensive truce is still nowhere in sight. In Lebanon, Israel is conducting a similar aerial campaign against the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah — a Hamas ally — during the U.S.-brokered cease-fire there, saying Israeli forces are attacking sites and operatives that have breached the agreement.
The war in Gaza began after Hamas’s deadly Oct. 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel, which killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, according to Israel’s government. About 250 others were taken back to Gaza as hostages.
Israel’s subsequent military campaign against Hamas has killed more than 48,000 people, including thousands of children, according to the Gaza health ministry. The figures do not distinguish between civilians and combatants and the Israeli military claims to have “eliminated” nearly 20,000 Hamas operatives.
Israeli leaders say they will not end the war against Hamas until they topple the group’s rule in Gaza and the territory no longer poses a threat to Israel. Hamas has shown some willingness to give up civilian governance of Gaza, but has drawn a red line on disbanding its battalions of armed fighters.
Israel and Hamas are supposed to be negotiating the next steps in the cease-fire agreement, which would involve a permanent end to the war, the release of the remaining living hostages, and a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.
Mediators including the United States, Qatar, and Egypt have made little headway so far given the entrenched disagreements between the two sides.
Israeli forces remain deployed in a buffer zone inside Gaza and along the Philadelphi Corridor, which runs along Gaza’s border with Egypt. Under the terms of the cease-fire, Israel was supposed to have withdrawn from the Philadelphi Corridor by mid-March.
Iyad Abuheweilaand Lia Lapidotcontributed reporting.
