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 said it struck a militant in the area, without giving further details. 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 the 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.