GAZA/TEL AVIV: Palestinian medical sources in Gaza on Monday said two people were killed and three were injured in an Israeli attack on the town of Abasan al Kabira, as the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas remains fragile.
The sources at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis said one person killed was male.
When asked to comment, the Israeli military said the people had crossed the "yellow line," a line behind which the Israeli army withdrew as part of the ceasefire.
Abasan al Kabira, located to the east of Khan Yunis, is under Israeli military control and lies behind the yellow line.
The military said the Palestinians had approached its soldiers and"conducted suspicious activities," without giving further details.
In order to "eliminate the threat," the military attacked the people involved, it said.
The Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that the Israeli military used a drone to attack a group of people in Abasan al Kabira who had been looking to inspect their homes following the ceasefire.
According to the report, some sustained serious injuries.
It was initially not possible to independently verify the claims from either side.
Israel has lifted the state of emergency for areas near the border with Gaza for the first time since Hamas's October 2023 attack, Defence Minister Israel Katz announced on Monday.
"I have decided to adopt the Israeli military's recommendation and to lift, for the first time since October 7, the special state on the home front," a statement from Katz's office said.
The decision "reflects the new security reality in the south of the country" and came as a ceasefire that began on October 10 largely continued to hold.
The state of emergency, which was active up to 80 kilometres from Gaza in southern Israel, granted authorities special powers to maintain public order and ensure civilian safety.
The same state of emergency was temporarily expanded to the whole of Israel in June 2025 after Israeli strikes on Iran that prompted retaliatory missile launches from the Islamic republic.
Israeli Foreign Miniser Gideon Saar said on Monday that only countries that are "at least fair" to Israel could send troops to secure war-torn Gaza, ruling out Türkiye's participation.
Under a US-brokered ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, a coalition of mainly Arab and Muslim nations is expected to deploy forces in the Palestinian territory devastated by conflict since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks across the border.
Türkiye has been keen to join a planned international stabilisation force, an idea Israel firmly opposes. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said that Israel would decide which countries it would allow to join the security force.
"I would say that countries that want or are ready to send armed forces should be at least fair to Israel," Saar said at a press conference alongside his Hungarian counterpart.
"During the last four years and even before that, Türkiye's, led by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, led a hostile approach against Israel, that included not only hostile statements, but also diplomatic and economic measures against Israel," he said.
"So it is not reasonable for us to let their armed forces enter (the) Gaza Strip, and we will not agree to that, and we said it to our American friends," he added.
The families of Israeli hostages on Monday demanded that the next steps in the US-brokered Gaza ceasefire be put on hold until Hamas returns the remaining bodies of dead captives.
"Hamas knows exactly where every one of the deceased hostages is held. Two weeks have passed since the deadline set in the agreement for the return of all 48 hostages, yet 13 remain in Hamas captivity," the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said.
"The families urge the Government of Israel, the United States administration and the mediators not to advance to the next phase of the agreement until Hamas fulfils all of its obligations and returns every hostage to Israel," the association said. — Agencies
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