Tel Aviv, Nov 26, (dpa/GNA) – The Israeli military said on Wednesday, it killed several Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, despite the ceasefire with the militant group Hamas.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said six terrorists were identified in the southern city of Rafah after emerging from an underground hideout.
The air force fired on the men, the IDF said. A search of the area subsequently found one body, and three other armed men were killed in close combat. Soldiers also arrested two other terrorists who were in a building, the IDF said.
According to Israeli media reports, dozens of armed men had barricaded themselves in an underground tunnel in the Rafah area, which is controlled by Israel under the ceasefire. Negotiations over their demand for safe passage were unsuccessful.
Other fatal incidents also reported
The Israeli army also reported two further fatal incidents in the south of the coastal strip, in which individuals who had entered areas controlled by the military and posed a threat to soldiers, were attacked.
A member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorist organization was killed, it said. In addition, another person, whom the army also described as a terrorist, was killed by Israeli fire.
The IDF said within a week, “more than 20 terrorists have been eliminated and eight more terrorists were captured, while attempting to flee from the underground terrorist infrastructure in the area.”
The Palestinian news agency WAFA, reported that two civilians were killed by Israeli shelling east of the city of Khan Younis.
Violence has continued since the ceasefire in Gaza took effect on October 10, with both sides accusing each other of violations.
According to the Hamas-controlled health authority, 347 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire began, while several Israeli soldiers have died in attacks.
Meanwhile, Israel has transferred the bodies of 15 Palestinians to the Gaza Strip, the territory’s Hamas-run health authority said on Wednesday, after the remains of the latest hostage returned to Israel were identified.
The latest set of Palestinian remains was handed over by employees of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
Earlier, a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said, the remains of the latest returned hostage have been identified by a forensic institute in Tel Aviv as Dror Or.
The statement said Israel is determined to bring back the last two remaining deceased hostages from the Gaza Strip. They include a Thai national who was abducted from Israel during the attacks by Hamas and other militant groups on October 7, 2023.
The 48-year-old Or was killed in the attack on Kibbutz Be’eri, and his body was taken to the Gaza Strip. His wife Yonat was also murdered during the massacre.
Two of their children were abducted to the coastal strip and later released, as part of a deal with Hamas.
Palestinian Islamic Jihad said Or’s body was found in the central Gaza Strip.
Israel and Hamas agreed to the handover of bodies, as part of a ceasefire deal in October. According to the agreement, Israel must hand over the remains of 15 deceased Gazans for every Israeli hostage whose remains are returned.
Under the terms of the ceasefire, Hamas released all 20 surviving hostages on October 13 in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
However, the handover of the killed hostages has been slow, taking more than six weeks.
Israel has warned that Hamas is using the time to regroup and rebuild its forces. The group has ruled out disarming, as stipulated in US President Donald Trump’s peace plan.
GNA