Click to see full-size image. (The Israeli Defense Forces)
Israeli troops opened fire at Palestinian civilians attempting to return to their homes in the northern Gaza Strip just hours after the temporary ceasefire agreed upon entered into effect on the morning of November 24.
Palestinian media said that the civilians were targeted after approaching a newly-established checkpoint of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) near the location of the former Israeli settlement of Netzarim in central Gaza. One was killed and at least seven others were wounded.
Earlier, the IDF dropped leaflets over Gaza warning residents not to return to their homes in the Strip’s north, despite the four-day ceasefire. The IDF spokesperson in Arabic, Avichay Adraee, issued a similar statement telling Gazans the war is not over.
In the hours leading to the ceasefire, the IDF intensified strikes on Gaza. The Jabalia, Nuseirat and al-Maghazi refugee camps in the northern part of the Strip were hit. Clashes were also reported in the nearby city of Beit Lehia.
The IDF also blew up a tunnel near al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City in the morning and said in a statement that it had completed its “operational deployment on the ceasefire lines.”
The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said that 322 people were killed on the last day before the ceasefire, bringing the total death toll from the war to 14,854. More than 36,000 others have been wounded so far, and another 7,000 are still missing.
The Israeli attack on Palestinian civilians in northern Gaza will not likely affect the ceasefire. Four tankers of fuel and four tankers of cooking gas have already entered the Strip for United Nations humanitarian aid organizations. The trucks entered the southern part of the Strip via Egypt’s Rafah border crossing.
In the afternoon, 13 Israeli hostages held in Gaza will be freed by the Hamas Movement, followed by the release of 39 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.
Over the next four days, at least 50 Israeli women and children are slated to be released, leaving an estimated 190 hostages in the hands of Hamas and other armed factions. Over the same period, 150 Palestinian prisoners, mostly women and children, are expected to be released.
The temporary ceasefire, which was brokered by the United States, Egypt and Qatar, will provide some relief to more than two million Palestinians in Gaza. Efforts are underway to expand the ceasefire. However, Israel appears to be determined to continue its war on the Strip.
