Strikes in Gaza kill 85 overnight, bringing the total since Israel broke the ceasefire to nearly 600
Local health officials said Israeli strikes killed at least 85 Palestinians across he Gaza Strip overnight, bringing the total to nearly 600 killed since Israel shattered the ceasefire.
DEIR-AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Local health officials said Israeli strikes killed at least 85 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip overnight and into Thursday, bringing the total to nearly 600 killed since Israel shattered a truce that had facilitated the release of more than two dozen hostages and brought relative calm since late January.
Hours later, Hamas fired three rockets at Israel without causing casualties, in the first such attack since Israel broke the ceasefire Tuesday.
Zaher al-Waheidi, head of the records department at the Gaza Health Ministry, said Israeli bombardments have killed at least 592 people in the past three days.
The Israeli military said it was again enforcing a blockade on northern Gaza, including Gaza City. Palestinians were not being ordered to leave northern Gaza but can no longer enter, the military said, and are only allowed to move south on foot using the coastal road. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians had returned to what remains of their homes in the north during the ceasefire.
Early Friday, Israel’s Cabinet unanimously approved Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s request to fire the head of the country’s Shin Bet internal security service. The late-night decision to sack Ronen Bar deepens a power struggle focused largely over who bears responsibility for the Hamas attack that sparked the war in Gaza.
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