Israeli fire kills Palestinian, wounds others in southern Gaza despite ceasefire

A Palestinian was killed and several others were wounded by Israeli gunfire in the Gaza Strip on Monday, in another violation of a ceasefire in effect since last October, a medical source said.

The source said the casualties were reported when Israeli forces opened fire on civilian vehicles east of the town of al-Qarara, northeast of Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

Witnesses told Anadolu that Israeli forces positioned east of Salah al-Din Street opened fire on Palestinian vehicles in an area outside their agreed deployment and control zone under the ceasefire.

According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, at least 723 Palestinians have been killed and 1,990 injured in Israeli attacks since the ceasefire.

The agreement was meant to end a two-year Israeli offensive on Gaza, which left more than 72,000 dead and 172,000 wounded, and destroyed 90% of the civilian infrastructure. The UN estimates reconstruction costs at around $70 billion.

*Writing by Lina Altawell