Israeli strikes kill three people in Gaza
Israeli military strikes killed three people west of Gaza City, according to the hospital where the injured arrived.
Şifa Hospital reported the deaths on Monday, amid a months-long ceasefire and ongoing clashes.
The Israeli military said it hit targets in response to Israeli soldiers coming under fire in the southern city of Rafah, which it said was a violation of the ceasefire.
The military said it hit the targets “precisely.”
The four-month US-backed ceasefire followed stalled talks and involved Israel and Hamas agreeing to a 20-point plan proposed by US President Donald Trump aimed at ending the war sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
At the time, Trump said this would lead to a “Strong, Enduring and Everlasting Peace.”
Hamas released all living hostages it still held at the beginning of the agreement in exchange for the remains of thousands of Palestinian prisoners and others held by Israel.
But the larger issues the deal aims to address, including the strip’s future management, have been met with reservations, and the U.S. has not offered a firm timeline.
A top United Nations official expressed concern on Monday about Israel’s security cabinet’s decision to deepen the country’s control over the occupied West Bank.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was “gravely concerned” and warned that Israel’s decision could erode the possibility of a two-state solution, spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said in a statement.
“Such actions, including Israel’s continued presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, are not only destabilizing but also – as the International Court of Justice has reminded – unlawful,” he said.
Israel’s security cabinet on Sunday approved measures aimed at deepening Israeli control over the occupied West Bank and weakening the Palestinian Authority’s already limited powers.
Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the measures would make it easier for Jewish settlers to force Palestinians to give up land and said, “We will continue to bury the idea of a Palestinian state.”
Israel captured Gaza and East Jerusalem, as well as the West Bank, in the 1967 Middle East war. Palestinians want all three regions to become a future state.
Passage through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt has begun to improve after a chaotic first week of reopening marked by confusion, delays and limited numbers of crossings, the Palestinian official tasked with overseeing daily affairs in Gaza said on Monday.
Ali Shaath, head of the National Committee for Gaza Administration, told Egypt’s Al-Qahera News on Sunday that operations at the crossing were improving.
He said 88 Palestinians were scheduled to pass through Rafah on Monday, a higher number than seen in the first days after reopening.
The European Union border mission at the crossing said on Sunday that 284 Palestinians had crossed since the crossing reopened.
Among the travelers were people returning after fleeing the war, medical evacuees and their attendants. In total, 53 people were evacuated during the first five days of operations.
This figure falls well short of the agreed target negotiated by Israeli, Egyptian, Palestinian and international officials of 50 medical evacuees leaving and 50 returnees entering per day.
The Rafah crossing, one of the basic conditions of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, was opened last week for the first time since mid-2024.
