Relentless Israeli bombardment has killed at least 31 Palestinians, including six children and several police officers, in Gaza, a day before the Rafah border crossing is due to reopen.
An Israeli air strike on Saturday on a tent sheltering displaced people killed at least seven Palestinians, including three children, in the al-Mawasi area to the northwest of Khan Younis, medical sources told Al Jazeera.
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Their bodies were taken to the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis.
In Gaza City, emergency services reported that an Israeli air attack killed at least five Palestinians, including three children, in an apartment building in the Remal neighbourhood to the west of the city.
“We could feel the shockwaves of the explosions, followed by a huge, dark, dusty cloud that filled the area, leaving at least five people killed inside the residential flat, including a mother and children,” Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud reported from Gaza City.
Eight Palestinians were also injured in an Israeli bombing of an apartment building in the Daraj neighbourhood of Gaza City.
“All of this is happening inside the yellow line,” Mamhoud said, referring to the demarcation line where the Israeli army withdrew to under the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire that came into effect in October. He added that in Khan Younis, a building “had been hit by fighter jets and destroyed completely after it was pre-warned by the Israeli military”.
The head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, condemned the latest Israeli attacks, describing the truce as “a ceasefire in name only”.
“A ceasefire means guns fall silent and give way to efforts to end the war,” Philippe Lazzarini posted on X. “People in Gaza deserve a genuine ceasefire – a much overdue ceasefire.”
Egypt and Qatar, the key mediators for the ceasefire, also condemned the latest Israeli violations.
Egypt demanded that all parties “exercise the utmost restraint” ahead of Sunday’s planned reopening of the Rafah crossing, which links Gaza and Egypt.
Qatar said the violence was a “dangerous escalation that will inflame the situation and undermine regional and international efforts aimed at consolidating the truce”.
Israel’s military said its latest strikes were retaliation for an incident on Friday in which eight Palestinian fighters exited a tunnel in Rafah, which Israel said violated the ceasefire.
It said forces “struck four commanders and additional terrorists from the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist organisations across the Gaza Strip”.
Hamas political bureau member Suhail al-Hindi rejected the Israeli army’s claims.
“What happened today is a fully fledged crime committed by a criminal enemy that does not abide by agreements or respect any commitments,” he told the AFP news agency.
Gaza’s Government Media Office says at least 524 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since the United States-brokered ceasefire came into effect.
Rafah reopening
Residents in the border town of Rafah also reported several air attacks in areas under Israeli control. Israel is due to reopen the Rafah crossing on Sunday for the first time since May 2024.
The opening of the key entry point is part of the second phase of Israel’s ceasefire agreement with Hamas. It was meant to open during the first phase, but Israel refused to do so until the body of its last remaining captive held in Gaza, Ran Gvili, was found and laid to rest earlier in the week.
Israel on Saturday said it would only allow a “limited movement of people” who have received security clearance by Israel to enter and exit. No aid or humanitarian supplies will be allowed to enter.
Munir al-Bursh, director-general of the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, told Al Jazeera that the health situation in the territory is extremely dire, noting that medical supplies are rapidly running out.
He called for the entry of medical supplies and the facilitation of evacuations for wounded Palestinians to receive treatment outside the Gaza Strip.
The Rafah crossing will be overseen by multiple parties, including Egypt, the Palestinian Authority and a European Union mission, but Israel retains control over who is allowed to enter and exit.
“Only those who fled during the past two years are allowed to come back,” Mahmoud explained. “Those who are born outside the Gaza Strip are not going to be allowed to come back.”
Hamas responded to the Rafah announcement by calling for Israel to allow movement in and out of Gaza “without restrictions”, and urged it to adhere to all aspects of the ceasefire agreement.
Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza has killed more than 71,600 Palestinians since October 7, 2023.
