Israeli fire kills four people in Gaza, medics say

Israeli strikes and gunfire killed at ​least four people in the ​Gaza Strip in separate incidents ‌on Thursday, ​health officials in the enclave said. In Gaza City, a strike on a car killed at least ‌two people, medics said. A crowd gathered around the burning wreckage, as orange-vested emergency crews sprayed it with water, photos from the scene showed.

Another strike killed a Palestinian man ‌on a bike in the southern city of Khan Younis, and gunfire ‌killed a woman near the Jabalia refugee camp, in the north, the medics added. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on any of the reported incidents.

Israel, which says the Hamas militant group ⁠has ​been rearming and launching ⁠attacks in violation of a year-old ceasefire, has stepped up strikes on the group in recent ⁠weeks. Hamas has denied trying to carry out attacks or rebuild its arsenal and accuses ​Israel of undermining the Gaza peace deal.

Last year's US-brokered ceasefire calls for ⁠eventual reconstruction of the territory. But little progress has been made as negotiators have failed to agree ⁠terms ​for Hamas to disarm and Israel to withdraw its troops. Israeli airstrikes have continued. At least 1,500 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the ⁠ceasefire, according to the territory's health officials, while Israel says four soldiers have been killed.

Palestinian ⁠authorities say more ⁠than 74,000 people have been killed in Israel's assault on Gaza, launched after Hamas-led fighters killed about 1,200 people in southern ‌Israel on ‌October 7, 2023.