Tension rises as Israeli fire kills 3 in Gaza

Israeli fire killed at least three Palestinians in two separate incidents across the enclave, local health authorities said, as tension rises over continued violence.

Medics said one Palestinian was killed in the Tuffah neighbourhood in Gaza City, in an area under Palestinian control, while two others were killed in the town of Bani Suhaila east of Khan Younis, an area Israel still occupies.

There was no comment from the Israeli military on the two incidents. 

Fighting has largely abated since Israel and Palestinian group Hamas agreed to a ceasefire in October, two years into the war, but it has not stopped entirely. Israel and Hamas have traded blame over the violations of the deal.

A Hamas official told Reuters yesterday that the group urged mediators to intervene to stop “daily Israeli killings that aim to derail the ceasefire deal.”

More than 440 Palestinians, most of them civilians according to Gaza health officials, have been killed since the truce, as well as three Israeli soldiers. 

Meanwhile, at a hospital in Gaza, wards are filled with patients fearing they will be left without care if Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is forced out under an Israeli ban due to take effect in March.

Last month, Israel announced it would prevent 37 aid organisations, including MSF, from operating in Gaza from March 1 for failing to provide detailed information on their Palestinian staff.