Israeli strikes kill three people in Gaza, medics say

Israeli strikes killed at least three ​Palestinians and wounded several others ​in the Gaza Strip on Monday, ‌the ​territory's health officials said. Medics said two people were killed and six others wounded in two separate airstrikes in ‌Khan Younis, south of the enclave, while a third person was killed in an Israeli airstrike in the town of Al-Mussadar.

The Israeli military didn't immediately comment on any ‌of the attacks. 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 on terms for Hamas to disarm or Israel to ​withdraw its troops, who control about two-thirds of the territory where they have ⁠ordered residents out.

Nearly all of the more than 2 million residents live in the remaining third of ⁠the ​enclave among war ruins, mostly in makeshift tents and damaged buildings, still under effective control of Hamas. At least 1,580 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks ⁠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. (Reporting ​by Nidal al-Mughrabi)