At least 10 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli airstrikes and fighting between Hamas and an Israel-backed Palestinian militia in central Gaza, according to local sources. The strikes reportedly targeted Hamas security personnel who had clashed with members of the militia east of the Maghazi refugee camp. It remains unclear how many of the deaths resulted from the airstrikes versus the ground fighting.
A spokesperson for al-Aqsa hospital in Deir al-Balah stated that the bodies of 10 people from the scene had been brought there. Dozens of others were wounded, with some in critical condition, they added. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military or Hamas. The exact sequence of Monday's events is still unclear, but witnesses said members of the Israel-backed militia set up a checkpoint east of Maghazi, where they came under attack from Hamas security personnel, triggering clashes.
The witnesses added that Israeli drones intervened to support the militia, carrying out strikes on Hamas personnel in three locations. Israel and Hamas have accused each other of repeatedly violating the ceasefire agreed almost six months ago. According to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza, at least 723 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since then. The Israeli military has said five of its soldiers have been killed in attacks by Palestinian groups over the same period.
The issue of disarmament has been a key stumbling block for progressing to the second phase of US President Donald Trump's 20-point peace plan. Last week, a Hamas delegation met with Egyptian, Qatari, and Turkish mediators in Cairo to give its initial response to a proposal from the US-led Board of Peace for Palestinian groups to decommission their weapons. On Sunday, the spokesperson for Hamas's military wing, Abu Ubaida, rejected any talk of disarmament before Israel fulfills its commitments under the first phase of Trump's plan.
Abu Ubaida, whose namesake was killed in an Israeli strike last year, stated, "We will not accept raising the issue of weapons in this crude manner," and added, "What the enemy failed to take from us by tanks and destruction, it will not take from us through politics or at the negotiating table." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has previously warned Hamas that it will be disarmed "either the easy way or the hard way." Abu Ubaida also linked Hamas's fight in Gaza to the wider conflict between Israel and the US and Iran and its allies, praising missile, drone, and rocket attacks on Israel by Iranian forces and Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen as an "extension" of what Hamas started on October 7, 2023.
Source: www.bbc.com