A number of Palestinians were killed and injured in an Israeli raid targeting the Al-Sabra neighborhood, south of Gaza City, despite the announcement of a ceasefire. The Palestinian Wafa News Agency reported that four Palestinians were killed and about 40 others were missing in the bombing, raising the death toll in the Strip to 29 since Thursday dawn.
Delicate timing
The raid came as the Israeli government was holding a meeting to vote on an agreement to release Israeli hostages and end the war in Gaza. According to the agreement, the ceasefire begins within 24 hours of its official approval by the Israeli government.
Israeli questions about the “last assassination”
The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth asked in its headline: “Is it the last assassination before the ceasefire?”, referring to the controversial timing of the attack that preceded the announcement of the truce.
Israeli justifications for the attack
For its part, Israeli Channel 12 quoted military sources as saying that the raid targeted two people from the Hamas movement who were not first-line leaders, confirming their killing without revealing their identities. The Israeli Broadcasting Authority also said that the building that was targeted “in which activity was detected against the Israeli army forces,” while Army Radio explained that the bombing came “in response to Hamas’ continued attempts to attack the forces in the Gaza Strip.”
A human tragedy repeated
This escalation comes at a time when fears are increasing that the fragile ceasefire agreement will collapse before it enters into force, amid deteriorating humanitarian conditions experienced by the residents of the Gaza Strip after months of continuous fighting.
