Source : Perth Now news
An Israeli air strike has killed at least two Palestinians in Gaza City, health officials say.
Medics said the two people were killed when an air strike hit a group of people at the Omar Al-Mokhtar road in the heart of the city, in the north of the enclave.
Several others were wounded, they added.
The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the incident.
Israel has repeatedly carried out strikes on the Gaza Strip since a US-mediated ceasefire with Hamas was reached in October last year, saying that it is targeting militants threatening its soldiers in the enclave or those who took part in that 2023 attack.
Hamas has accused Israel of violating the ceasefire while Nikolay Mladenov, US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace envoy to the Gaza Strip, has said both parties have violated the agreement.
Israel and Hamas are deadlocked in indirect talks over implementing the second phase of the ceasefire deal, which includes the group’s disarmament and Israeli army withdrawals.
Since the ceasefire took effect eight months ago, more than 1060 Palestinians, many of them civilians, and four Israeli soldiers have been killed in the strip, according to figures from each side.
Hamas does not disclose its fatality figures.
Meanwhile, a lawyer for prominent Palestinian hospital director Hussam Abu Safiya – who was seized by Israeli forces 18 months ago – said his client has been abused in captivity and is in critical condition.
Abu Safiya, who headed the Kamal Adwan Hospital in the north of the Gaza Strip, was detained as Israel accused him of links to Hamas.
After visiting Abu Safiya on Thursday, his lawyer Nasser Odeh said there had been a severe deterioration in his health.
The visit took place at the underground Rakefet interrogation facility in Nitzan Prison.
Physicians for Human Rights Israel and Odeh called for Abu Safiya’s immediate transfer from the facility and an urgent judicial visit to assess his condition.
The rights group reported that in his affidavit, Odeh said that Abu Safiya had been brought to the meeting with his hands and feet shackled and showing fresh and severe injuries to his head, around his eyes, on his ears and neck – “to the extent that his lawyer initially struggled to recognise him”.
Abu Safiya had experienced difficulty breathing and speaking continuously and appeared extremely weak, it said.
“Attorney Odeh noted that he appeared frightened, exhibited severe psychological distress and was reluctant to speak freely due to fear of being targeted. Based on these direct observations, Attorney Odeh concluded that Dr Abu Safiya’s life is in immediate danger,” the rights group said.
The Israel Prison Service rejected the allegations as “false and entirely without factual basis”.
It said all prisoners are held in accordance with the law and receive medical care based on professional medical judgment and in accordance with Ministry of Health guidelines.
with AP and DPA
