Two children were killed in an Israeli drone strike on Gaza on Saturday, Palestinian health officials and the children’s families said.
The attack is the latest in a string of violence that continues in the Palestinian territories despite a shaky ceasefire in October.
What do we know about the drone strike that killed 2 boys?
Reuters news agency quoted the children’s uncle as saying that two brothers, Fadi and Goma, were gathering wood to help their father, who was in a wheelchair, east of the Khan Younis neighborhood in southern Gaza at the time of the attack.
The Associated Press news agency quoted Nasser Hospital staff as saying that the drone struck near a school sheltering displaced people in the town of Beni Suhaila in Khan Younis.
Conflicting reports regarding his age suggest that he was between 8 and 12 years old.
“They’re children… what did they do? They don’t have missiles or bombs, they went to collect wood for their father so he could make a fire,” he was quoted by Reuters as saying at the funeral of his uncle, Mohammed Abu Assi.
The children’s father was crying over the body of one of his sons as its white shroud was peeled away and his face was exposed, Reuters reported.
The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the killings.
More than 354 Palestinians have been killed in the largely devastated area since the October 10 ceasefire, according to Gazan health officials. Many of the deaths occur when Israeli forces fire on Palestinians it accuses of crossing the yellow line established during the ceasefire to mark areas still under Israeli control in the Strip.
On Saturday, the Israel Defense Forces said its troops “identified two suspects who crossed the yellow line, carried out suspicious activities and contacted troops in southern Gaza, posing an immediate threat,” adding that the troops “eliminated the suspects to eliminate the threat.”
It is not clear whether the post referred to the two dead boys.
Israel says three of its soldiers have been killed in terrorist firing since the ceasefire.
Nearly a dozen people were injured in violence against settlers in the West Bank
Meanwhile, 10 Palestinians were injured in settler violence in the occupied West Bank on Saturday, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent. The attacks on settlers in the village of Khalet al-Lauja near Bethlehem included fighting and live ammunition.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said a woman was shot by a resident’s weapon and was being treated in hospital. Three others were also admitted to the hospital.
The Israeli military confirmed receiving a report that it was a violent confrontation between Israeli settlers and Palestinians, and said that troops and border police were deployed to the area.
Israel began its two-year war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, following a Hamas-led attack that killed 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians, and took about 250 more hostages. Palestinian officials put the death toll of Palestinians in the two years of war at around 70,000.
Since the beginning of the Gaza War, settler violence in the occupied West Bank increased significantly, with hardly any reports of settlers being held accountable.
on friday United Nations condemned In what was described as an “apparent summary execution” of two Palestinian men killed by Israeli border control after they were seen surrendering.
Since October 2023, 1,030 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, according to UN data.
Edited by: Dmytro Lyubenko