Gaza Journalist Among Eight Killed In Israeli Attacks As Ceasefire Violations Continue

At least eight Palestinians, including a journalist, were killed in Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, as violence against Palestinians continued despite a nearly year-old ceasefire, according to Palestinian authorities and medical sources.

Muhammad Abdel Aziz al-Najjar was among those killed, Gaza’s Government Media Office said. It did not provide the location of the attack that killed him or details about the circumstances of his death. The office said al-Najjar was the 263rd Palestinian journalist killed by Israel since October 2023.

The deaths came as Gaza’s Ministry of Health reported that at least 1,431 Palestinians had been killed since the October ceasefire, while 5,026 people had been wounded during the same period. The ministry said 31 of those injuries were recorded in the previous 24 hours.

Drone strike kills six in Gaza City

Six Palestinians were killed when an Israeli drone struck a passenger van in Tal al-Hawa, a neighbourhood in southwest Gaza City, according to witnesses and medical sources.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society said its crews transported 13 wounded people to al-Quds Hospital following the attack. Medical sources told Al Jazeera that the injuries were “critical”.

“Doctors say it’s difficult to save the lives of the wounded because the health system is decimated by years of Israeli attacks and the blockade,” said Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary, reporting from Gaza City. “The number of dead in the strike could rise in the coming hours.”

Earlier, an Israeli attack on a residential apartment near al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City killed at least one woman, the official Palestinian Wafa news agency reported.

Four Palestinians, including two children, were wounded when an Israeli drone struck a shelter for displaced people in southern Gaza, according to local sources cited by Wafa.

Two other Palestinians were seriously wounded by Israeli forces southeast of Deir el-Balah in central Gaza. Israeli tank fire was also reported in southern Khan Younis.

Gaza hospitals receive nine bodies in 24 hours

The attacks were reported as Gaza’s Ministry of Health said in its latest daily update early on Wednesday that hospitals across the territory had received the bodies of at least nine people during the previous 24 hours.

The ministry said eight people had been killed during that period, while one woman died from wounds sustained earlier. The figures brought the number of Palestinians killed since the October ceasefire between Israel and Hamas to at least 1,431.

At least 5,026 people have been wounded since the ceasefire, including 31 in the 24 hours covered by the latest update, according to the ministry.

“There is supposed to be a ceasefire in Gaza, but the Israeli army’s violence is endless. Every day, Palestinians are killed, injured, and the humanitarian situation is deteriorating,” reported Khoudary, describing “terrifying” conditions for Gaza’s residents.

“Everyone inside the strip is afraid to go to the supermarket, to take their children to school, and to live their everyday lives,” she added.

More than 74,000 killed since October 2023

Israel’s war against Palestinians in Gaza has killed at least 74,032 people since October 2023 and wounded another 175,142, according to health officials.

An analysis by the United Nations Satellite Centre in August found that the number of destroyed structures across Gaza had increased by nine per cent since the ceasefire took effect.

The UN said about 82 per cent of structures in Gaza, roughly 200,000 buildings, had been damaged. About two-thirds of those structures have been destroyed since the start of the war.