GAZA: Israeli air strikes in Gaza killed at least 20 people and wounded more than 80, local health authorities said on Saturday, in a further test of a fragile ceasefire between the Palestinian group Hamas and Israel.
Witnesses and medics said the first attack hit a car in the densely populated Rimal neighbourhood, setting it ablaze. It was not immediately clear whether the five dead were passengers of the car or included passersby. Dozens of people rushed to extinguish the fire and rescue the victims.
Shortly after the attack on the car, the Israeli air force carried out two separate air strikes on two houses in Deir Al Balah city and Nuseirat camp, in the central Gaza Strip, killing at least 10 people and wounding several others, medics said.
Later on Saturday, a new Israeli air strike on a house in western Gaza City killed at least five Palestinians and wounded others, medics said, taking Saturday's death toll to at least 20.
The Israeli military said a gunman had crossed into Israeli-held territory in Gaza and exploited "the humanitarian road in the area through which humanitarian aid enters southern Gaza", calling it a "blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement".
A Hamas official in Gaza rejected the Israeli military's allegations as baseless and an "excuse to kill", saying the group was committed to the ceasefire agreement.
Hamas said in a statement earlier in the day that Israel's "escalating violations" put a responsibility on mediators and the US to confront it and preserve the ceasefire.
The October 10 ceasefire in the two-year Gaza war has eased the conflict, enabling hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to return to Gaza's ruins. Israel has pulled troops back from city positions, and aid flows have increased. But violence has not completely halted. — Reuters
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