By Charles Maduka
At least 11 people were killed on Saturday following Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip, according to the territory’s health ministry, with some of the victims reportedly sheltering in a tent in the southern part of the enclave.
The ministry’s director general, Munir al-Barsh, told AFP that the fatalities and about 20 injuries resulted from strikes that hit civilians inside a tent and an apartment. He said those wounded were taken to hospitals in Gaza City in the north and Khan Yunis in the south.
Al-Barsh stated that the attacks occurred amid what he described as continued violations of the ceasefire agreement, adding that Gaza’s health sector is facing severe shortages of medical supplies, drugs and equipment.
A ceasefire brokered by the United States has been in effect since October and moved into its second phase in January. The agreement is expected to cover the disarmament of Hamas, a phased withdrawal of Israeli forces and the deployment of an international stabilisation force.
Despite the truce, Israel and Hamas have repeatedly accused each other of breaching the ceasefire terms.
Gaza’s Hamas-run government press office said the strike on a tent in the south claimed the lives of seven members of the same displaced family, including a child and an elderly person.
The health ministry said that since the ceasefire came into force on October 10, a total of 509 people have been killed in the territory.
Nearly the entire population of Gaza has been displaced at least once since the conflict began, with hundreds of thousands of people still living in tents or makeshift shelters across the coastal area.
The war began after Hamas launched an attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which left 1,221 people dead, according to figures compiled by AFP from official Israeli sources.
Israel’s military response has devastated large parts of Gaza, an area already weakened by previous conflicts and a blockade imposed since 2007.
According to the Gaza health ministry, the conflict, now in its second year, has resulted in more than 71,769 deaths in the territory, figures the United Nations considers credible.
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