Tel Aviv, Dec 4, (dpa/GNA) – Five Palestinians were reportedly killed after the Israeli military launched airstrikes on targets in the Gaza Strip, the Hamas-controlled civil defence authority said on Wednesday.
A tent in the southern town of Khan Younis, where displaced people were reportedly sheltering, was hit. The information could not initially be independently verified.
The Israeli military said the strike targeted a member of Hamas, accusing the Palestinian militant group of having earlier attacked Israeli soldiers and violated the ceasefire agreement.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement: “Earlier today (Wednesday), the Hamas terrorist organization carried out a blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement, during which terrorists attacked IDF troops deployed in the Rafah area. As a result of the encounter, five soldiers were injured.”
“In response to the violation, the IDF, guided by IDF intelligence and the ISA, struck a Hamas terrorist in the southern Gaza Strip.”
This information could also not initially be independently verified.
A ceasefire is currently in effect in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had previously warned that Israel, would not tolerate its soldiers being harmed and would respond accordingly.
Since the ceasefire began on October 10, there have been repeated isolated incidents resulting in deaths in the Gaza Strip. Israeli soldiers have also been killed since then.
GNA