Israeli fire kills three people in Gaza, medics say

Israeli fire ​killed one person in a car ​in Gaza City and at ‌least two ​others in other parts of the enclave on Thursday, health officials there said.

A crowd gathered around the burning ‌wreckagein Gaza City's Tel Al-Hawa neighbourhood as orange-vested emergency workers 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 said they had struck a Hamas militant in Khan Younis, without giving further details. The military added they were still checking reports of the strikes in ⁠Jabalia and Gaza ​City's Tel Al-Hawa ⁠suburb. 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.