Israeli strikes kill at least 3 in Gaza amid ceasefire tensions and removal plan

Israeli drone fire and gunfire killed at least three people and injured several others in different parts of Gaza on Thursday, according to the supplied reports. The incidents took place in western Gaza City's Rimal neighbourhood and in the northern town of Beit Lahia. They came despite the ceasefire arrangement in place in the territory, and alongside renewed Israeli political discussion of removing Palestinians from the Strip.

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In Rimal, a drone strike killed one person and wounded several others, medical sources said. The Palestinian Wafa news agency said the drone fired at least two missiles at a group of civilians. In Beit Lahia, two Palestinians were killed and others injured when Israeli forces opened fire on a group of people, according to the same reporting.

One of those killed was a 13-year-old child, while the other was an adult who was seriously injured before dying after being taken to a medical point, a reporter in Gaza said. The Israeli military said its forces had identified two people it described as terrorists who crossed the Yellow Line in northern Gaza and were then eliminated to remove what it called a threat. The Yellow Line is described as a buffer zone inside Gaza established as part of the ceasefire.

The attacks add to a pattern of deadly incidents that have continued even after major fighting was halted under a United States-brokered ceasefire that came into effect in October. The latest deaths are significant because they underline how fragile the ceasefire remains and how quickly local violence can still escalate. They also come as Israeli officials advance a plan that would seek the removal of Palestinians from Gaza over several years.

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That proposal has sharpened concern over the future of the territory, where roughly two million Palestinians live, and over the legal and humanitarian implications of any large-scale displacement. On Thursday, Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir unveiled a plan that his office said would create a dedicated ministry and seek agreements with countries willing to take in people from Gaza. The plan sets out a target of 250,000 departures in the first year, about 1.1 million within three years and around 1.9 million within seven years.

Ben-Gvir described the idea as realistic and said it was intended to encourage the emigration of Gaza's inhabitants as a solution to the conflict. Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz had already said on Wednesday that Israel was still working to remove Palestinians from Gaza. What remains unclear is how the political plan would be implemented, whether it would gain wider support, and how it would affect the ceasefire on the ground.

The immediate focus will be on whether further strikes or shootings follow, and whether the buffer-zone rules around the Yellow Line lead to more confrontations in the coming days.

#Gaza #Israel #ceasefire #Rimal #BeitLahia

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