At least seven Palestinians, including an eight-year-old girl, were killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza on Saturday, according to medical sources. The killings came on the day the US-backed ceasefire marked its first year in effect.
Shahd Abdul-Razzaq al-Najjar, 8, was killed by an Israeli quadcopter drone in the al-Jawazat area of western Gaza City, a source in ambulance and emergencies told Al Jazeera. In the same part of the city, four people were killed and several injured in an Israeli bomb attack near the Haider Abdel Shafi roundabout, according to al-Shifa Hospital. Another Palestinian was killed in a drone attack in the Tuffah neighbourhood of northeastern Gaza City, the hospital said. In the southern city of Khan Younis, a woman died from injuries sustained in an earlier attack on Saturday.
Gaza’s Ministry of Health said at least 1,481 Palestinians have been killed and 5,254 injured since the ceasefire came into effect on October 10 last year. It put the overall death toll since October 7, 2023 at 74,370, with more than 175,000 injured. In the past 24 hours, it said, Israeli attacks killed at least nine people and injured 65.
Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from Gaza, said the ceasefire had only heightened uncertainty in the enclave. “The rhythm of the genocide has not changed. The danger has not gone away completely, and that’s why people believe that it has more consequences, far beyond the immediate loss of life,” he said.
On Friday, more than 100 humanitarian, human rights and civil society organisations issued a joint statement saying the ceasefire in Gaza exists only in name. “The ceasefire exists in name only, with Israeli forces continuing to kill and injure Palestinians daily, and restrictions on aid, equipment and rebuilding materials preventing families from recovering,” the statement said.