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Hugo Bachega Middle East Correspondent (Jerusalem)
At least eight people, including children, were killed in an attack by Israeli forces in the Palestinian Gaza Strip. Local hospitals confirmed this on the 1st. The Israeli military and the Palestinian Islamic group Hamas agreed to a ceasefire more than a year ago.
According to hospital officials, a missile attack occurred near Cairo School in the Al-Rimal district of northern Gaza City. It landed near several civilians, killing three, including a 4-year-old boy.
In the southern province of Khan Younis, a drone attack killed five police officers in the line of duty in al-Mawasi district. The announcement was made by the Hamas-run Interior Ministry.
The Israeli military has announced two attacks targeting militants, but has not yet provided evidence or further information.
Footage taken outside Gaza City's Shifa Hospital showed a large group of men gathered to pray next to the body of a small child wrapped in a white towel and two body bags.
"My son and grandson were martyred. They were sitting in a tent without bothering anyone. Nothing was happening in that area and suddenly a missile hit and they were martyred," Ali Owais told AFP news agency. "There is no ceasefire. Don't you see that the war continues?"
Footage from Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis showed body bags lined up on the floor and women wailing around them. The Interior Ministry released the ages of the five police officers killed, ranging from 23 to 53, and called the attack a "horrible massacre."
A ceasefire took effect in October last year in the Gaza Strip, but Israeli airstrikes have continued almost daily since then.
According to Hamas-run Gaza's Health Ministry, 1,580 people have been killed since the ceasefire. The United Nations says the Ministry of Health's statistics are reliable. Israel claims its target is Hamas, but civilians are often the victims.
Meanwhile, a peace plan for the Gaza Strip brokered by US President Donald Trump's administration has stalled.
Last year's cease-fire agreement freed thousands of Palestinians held by Israel in exchange for all 48 hostages remaining in the Gaza Strip, marking an end to the war.
The conflict began on October 7, 2023, with a Hamas-led attack on Israel. Approximately 1,200 people were killed in Israel in attacks by Hamas and other groups, and 251 were taken hostage.
In the ensuing war, 74,594 people were killed in the Gaza Strip, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.
(Additional interview: Jacob Phillips)
(English article Israeli strikes in Gaza kill eight including child, hospitals say)
