The Israeli military for its part said it had struck Hamas weapons depots as Israel insists on verifying that the group behind the October 7, 2023 attacks is disarmed.
The strikes come a day after Hamas said it had agreed to the latest phase in a deal championed by US President Donald Trump that includes provisions for handing over its weapons and the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip.
Israel has yet to officially comment on the agreement, but a political source has told AFP “that there will be no withdrawal whatsoever” without Hamas’s “genuine disarmament”.
Mahmoud Basal, a spokesman for Gaza’s civil defence agency, told AFP that seven people were killed and several others injured across the Gaza Strip since dawn on Saturday.
He said that two of the people were killed and several injured in a strike by Israeli warplanes on a rooftop southwest of Gaza City.
Al-Shifa Hospital reported two dead from the rooftop strike.
Among other incidents, the civil defence agency, which serves as a rescue service under Hamas, said two people were killed and several injured when Israel hit near a pharmacy northwest of Gaza City.
The Al-Shifa Hospital identified the bodies of two people from that strike.
When contacted by AFP, the Israeli military said it was “aware of one strike in the area on a Hamas terrorist”.
In a statement, the military also said that it had struck several areas across Gaza and dismantled five Hamas weapons storage facilities.
It said that one weapons storage facility it struck was next to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital and had been “used as a hideout by Hamas terrorists”.
Israel has throughout its war with Hamas accused the militants of using civilian infrastructure to conceal fighters and weapons, and to stage operations.
Footage from the site showed a huge crater in the ground, next to which dozens of Palestinians sifted through what appeared to be medical supplies that had been scattered by the blast.
The Palestinian health ministry condemned “the heinous crime committed by Israeli occupation forces” which it said had “obliterated two of the four warehouses” for medical supplies, severely damaged the other two and damaged the adjacent outpatient clinic building.
“Vital quantities of medical consumables and supplies intended for the care of patients and the wounded were lost or destroyed,” it added.
Restrictions imposed on media outlets and limited access in Gaza prevent AFP from independently verifying tolls or freely covering the violence there. (AFP)
