Israeli military carries out ‘targeted strike’ in Gaza
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Israeli forces have carried out a “targeted strike” on an individual in central Gaza who was planning to attack the army’s troops, the military says.
A US-backed ceasefire is in force between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas more than two years after the war in the Gaza Strip began, but each side has accused the other of violations.
Israel said it had targeted a member of Islamic Jihad. The Palestinian militant group did not immediately comment on the assertion.
Witnesses told Reuters they saw a drone strike a car and set it ablaze. Local medics said four people were wounded, but there were no immediate reports of deaths.
Witnesses said separately that Israeli tanks had shelled eastern areas of Gaza City, the Gaza Strip’s biggest urban area. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Several Israeli media sites said Israel, in a reversal of a policy of barring entry to foreign forces, had allowed Egyptian officials into the Gaza Strip to help locate the bodies of hostages taken captive in the Hamas-led attack on Israeli communities on October 7, 2023, that triggered the war.
As part of the ceasefire agreement, Hamas has said it will return all the hostages it abducted, but the remains of 13 are still in the enclave.
The Israeli prime minister’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Israel, the US and the other mediators of the Gaza ceasefire deal are sharing information to disrupt any threats.
Rubio said they identified a possible impending attack last weekend and took action to stop it.
“We put out a message through State Department, sent it to our mediators as well, about an impending attack, and it didn’t happen,” he told reporters en route from Israel to Qatar, where he met up with President Donald Trump for a multistop tour in Asia.
“So that’s the goal here, is ultimately to identify a threat before it happens.”
Rubio said multiple countries are interested in joining an international stabilisation force that aims to deploy to Gaza but they need more details about the mission and rules of engagement.
The US could call for a UN resolution supporting the force so more nations can take part, he said, adding that America has been talking with Qatar, Egypt and Turkey and noting interest from Indonesia and Azerbaijan.
“Many of the countries who want to be a part of it can’t do it without that,” he said of an international mandate.
Crowds demonstrated in Israel late on Saturday in favour of the return of the 13 dead hostages whose bodies are still in the Gaza Strip.
In Tel Aviv, Haifa, Jerusalem and other places, people also protested against the right-wing religious government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Haaretz newspaper reported.
The largest rally in the evening took place in the centre of the coastal metropolis of Tel Aviv.
Organisers the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said there were tens of thousands of participants.
“We will not rest until everyone is back, right down to the last hostage,” said Anat Angrest, whose Israeli soldier son was recently released alive by Hamas.
The Palestinian militant organisation has so far handed over 15 dead hostages as part of the ceasefire agreement.
Trump also stepped up pressure on Hamas to quickly hand over the bodies of the remaining hostages.
“Hamas is going to have to start returning the bodies of the deceased hostages, including two Americans, quickly, or the other Countries involved in this GREAT PEACE will take action,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.
With AP and dpa
Reuters
