The attack marks the latest of nearly 400 Israeli violations of a US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, according to Gaza’s Government Media Office.
At least one Palestinian has been killed and two others – a woman and her child – injured in Israeli attacks on southern Gaza, according to the Wafa news agency and a medical source.
The killing came on Wednesday in the Qizan an-Najjar area, south of Khan Younis, a source from the city’s Nasser Hospital told media.
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Earlier, a woman and her child were gravely injured in a drone attack on the southern town of Bani Suheila, east of Khan Younis.
They add to 279 killings and more than 650 injuries in nearly 400 Israeli violations recorded by the enclave’s Government Media Office since the October 10 ceasefire brokered by the United States.
The office called on “US President Donald Trump, the mediating countries, the guarantors of the agreement, and the UN Security Council to take serious and effective action to stop these attacks, restrain the occupation, and compel it to strictly adhere to the terms of the ceasefire agreement and the humanitarian protocol, thereby ensuring the protection of civilians and putting an end to the escalating violations”.
On Monday, the United Nations Security Council had approved a resolution, drafted by the US as part of Trump’s 20-point peace plan, mandating a transitional administration and an international stabilisation force in Gaza that envisions a “credible pathway” to Palestinian statehood. The resolution passed in a 13-0 vote, with Russia and China abstaining.
“A lot of progress has been made with respect to Gaza and just about everything else we touch,” Trump said on Tuesday in a news conference during a visit by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) to Washington, DC.
“Just yesterday, the United Nations Security Council formally adopted my peace plan and officially endorsed the board of peace.”
Trump said the so-called board of peace would “end up being quite a large board because it’ll be the heads of every major country”.
Hosting MBS for dinner at the White House, Trump said, “I hope your highness will be on the board.” He also thanked MBS for his role in securing the ceasefire, without elaborating further.
Under the UNSC resolution, the board will serve as an interim administration, handling security, public services and reconstruction.
It remains unclear how it will be implemented, but its mandate will run until the end of 2027.
Immediate challenges
Reporting from Gaza City, media’s Hani Mahmoud said Palestinians are more concerned about the immediate challenges they are facing in their daily lives than Trump’s idea of a board of peace, which is “still a political concept”.
“They worry about waking up in the morning and trying to get clean drinking water into their displacement areas,” he said.
People also wake up “worried about the next heavy rainfall, how to stay dry and how to protect their children”, Mahmoud added.
Above all, “Palestinians want to know what’s going to happen next”, Mahmoud said, adding, as if they will be allowed to return to their homes.
This is a complex question for those whose homes are in the eastern part of the besieged enclave, as the area “has now been officially marked as a yellow area under Israeli control, with their livelihoods, their homes, their residential clusters completely destroyed”, said Mahmoud.
The so-called yellow line is an invisible boundary dividing the Gaza Strip into Israeli-occupied and Hamas-controlled zones, established as part of the October ceasefire. Israel has been routinely firing and killing Palestinians venturing to check on the ruins of their homes in areas it controls in recent weeks.
“Political diplomacy is not changing the course of things on the ground for them so far … People need a clear roadmap into ending all forms of violence, opening the crossings and making them more operational … they want proper and efficient access to food and water supplies,” said Mahmoud.
‘Winter is coming’ for Palestinians
Under the ceasefire, aid deliveries were supposed to be significantly ramped up, with at least 600 trucks due to enter Gaza each day to fulfil the population’s needs. But the numbers have been much lower than that, and the UN has warned that the hunger crisis in Gaza remains catastrophic.
Trump also touted the return of the captives to Israel as part of his 20-point plan, though he incorrectly stated that Hamas still has two bodies left to return when the actual figure is three.
“A lot of work has been done by Hamas, and a lot of people said they wouldn’t be doing that,” Trump said.
At the start of the truce, Hamas held 20 living captives and 28 bodies of the deceased. In exchange, Israel has released nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners in its custody and returned the bodies of hundreds of deceased Palestinians.
“We also want to thank all of the people living in Gaza … They’ve begun to move back to their homes … [They have] a lot more safety than they’ve ever had before,” Trump claimed.
In an interview with our colleagues at media Arabic, Philippe Lazzarini, the chief of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), disputed Trump’s claims.
“The residents of the Gaza Strip are suffering from disease and displacement, and insufficient resources are entering the Strip,” said Lazzarini. “The aid entering Gaza is insufficient, and food is unavailable due to high prices.”
“Winter is coming, and this will add further hardship to the residents of the Strip due to the rain and cold. The crossings must be opened to deliver the aid that the residents of the Gaza Strip need,” he said.
