Israeli strikes kill four people in Gaza, medics say

Israeli strikes killed at least four 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, in the south of the enclave, while a third person was killed in an Israeli airstrike in the town of Al-Mussadar. The Israeli military said it carried out two strikes in the enclave, targeting ‌Palestinian militants, without giving further information.

Later on Monday, an Israeli airstrike hit a vehicle in Gaza City's ‌Tel Al-Hawa neighbourhood, killing one person and wounding some others, medics said, taking Monday's death toll to at least four. The Israeli military didn't immediately comment on the strike. 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 after ordering residents ⁠out.

Nearly ​all of Gaza's 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.