Israeli Gunfire Kills 2 as Bombardments Continue Despite Ceasefire

PALESTINE – Israeli gunfire on Sunday Jan. 4, killed 2 Palestinians in southern parts of Gaza Strip, as Israeli army continued to carry out airstrikes across the strip.

One Palestinian was killed after an Israeli drone opened fire in an area from which the army had withdrawn under the ceasefire agreement northwest of the city of Rafah in southern Gaza, a medical source said.

The Israeli army also killed a fisherman, another medical source said.

According to local sources, Israeli naval forces fired gunshots off the coasts of Khan Younis and Rafah in southern Gaza earlier Sunday.

On the northwestern outskirts of Rafah, a medical source said another Palestinian was shot in the head by Israeli forces, describing his condition as “critical.”

Local sources said that the area where the Palestinian was injured is among those from which the Israeli army withdrew under the ceasefire agreement.

Israeli warplanes also carried out a series of airstrikes on various areas north and west of Rafah.

Meanwhile, the Israeli army carried out demolitions of residential buildings in eastern Khan Younis, accompanied by artillery shelling of areas that are under its control under the agreement.

Separately, Israeli warplanes launched a series of airstrikes on different areas in northern Gaza and east of Gaza City.

In central Gaza, Israeli military vehicles opened indiscriminate fire toward the eastern areas of the Bureij refugee camp.

Since the ceasefire agreement came into effect on Oct. 10, the Israeli army has committed hundreds of violations, killing 418 Palestinians and wounding 1,171 others, according to the Health Ministry.

The ceasefire halted Israel’s two-year war that killed nearly 71,400 Palestinians, most of them women and children, injured more than 171,200 others, and left the enclave in ruins.

But despite the ceasefire, Israel’s deadly attacks on Gaza continue.