At least three Palestinians killed in overnight Israeli attacks on Gaza

Seven others have been wounded in the latest attacks carried out in violation of the October ceasefire agreed between Israel and Hamas.

Three Palestinians have been killed and seven wounded in Israeli attacks in different areas of the Gaza Strip in the latest violation of a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, according to medical sources.

Sources told Al Jazeera the areas Israeli raids targeted overnight into Sunday included Rafah and Khan Younis in southern Gaza, the Zeitoun neighbourhood in the southeast of Gaza City and various other neighbourhoods across the besieged enclave, as Israel’s genocidal war continues unabated.

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In one attack, an Israeli quadcopter killed a Palestinian man who was being taken to a hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, medical sources told Al Jazeera.

The Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that two men were killed by Israeli military gunfire east of Zeitoun.

Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from Gaza City, said, “It has been a very dizzying period of escalation. We can hear the sounds of Israeli drones hovering overhead in central Gaza City and also the eastern communities, as well as where Israeli forces continue attacks and beyond the agreed yellow line, which was supposed to mark the ceasefire’s front lines.”

“There is a widescale flattening of buildings in Rafah, which has been under Israeli military control for two years, in Khan Younis, in the eastern parts of it and in the Jabalia refugee camp. These activities are basically designed to expand the areas that are under the Israeli military control to be possibly used as leverage in further negotiations in the second phase of the ceasefire agreement.”

“What we are documenting are demolitions and strikes in already evacuated civilian spaces, raising questions about whether this is security enforcement or territorial reshaping under the cover of the ceasefire,” he added.

Separately, the Israeli army reported on Saturday that its forces killed three Palestinians in southern and northern Gaza neighbourhoods, claiming that they posed a threat to Israeli forces, with one specifically stealing military equipment.

It was not immediately clear if the deaths were caused by the same incidents reported by Gaza sources.

Meanwhile, a seven-day-old Palestinian infant died due to the extreme cold on Saturday as the Israeli blockade of vital necessities worsens the humanitarian crisis in the enclave.

Mahmoud al-Aqraa died in Deir el-Balah in central Gaza amid rapidly decreasing temperatures, according to medical sources.

‘Catastrophe’

Palestinians living in makeshift tents have little protection from strong winds and rain, as most shelters are made of thin canvas and plastic sheets.

Israel continues to block or limit the number of vital needs entering the territory, such as tents, mobile homes or materials to fix tents, in violation of the ceasefire it agreed with Hamas in October, as well as its obligations under international law as the occupying power in the Strip.

Temperatures at night in Gaza have fallen to as low as 9 degrees Celsius (48 degrees Fahrenheit) in recent days.

In a statement, the Gaza Civil Defence warned of a “catastrophe” due to the “low-pressure system that caused serious damage to temporary shelters, and thousands of tents were completely damaged”.

It also urged citizens to secure their tents to prevent them from being blown away, given that mobile homes are not allowed to enter.

“What is happening is not a weather crisis, but a direct result of preventing the entry of building materials and disrupting reconstruction, as people are living in torn tents and cracked houses without safety or dignity,” Civil Defence spokesman Mahmoud Basal said.

Nearly 80 percent of buildings in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged by Israel during its more than two-year genocidal war against the Palestinians in the territory, according to the United Nations, rendering hundreds of thousands of people homeless.