Israel Continues Gaza Home Demolitions Despite Ceasefire with Hamas

Israeli forces have demolished several Palestinian homes in Gaza City and southern Gaza, violating the ceasefire agreement with Hamas that began in early October. Israeli raids also continued across the occupied West Bank.

According to the official Palestinian news agency WAFA, Israeli troops opened heavy fire east of Gaza City on Sunday morning while bulldozing residential buildings in the al-Zaytoun and al-Shuja’iyya neighborhoods.

In southern Gaza’s Khan Younis, Israeli artillery shelling and gunfire destroyed more homes, while Israeli warplanes launched three airstrikes on the border town of Rafah. No immediate reports of casualties were available.

On Saturday, Israeli fighter jets, tanks, and artillery also hit areas around Khan Younis and destroyed homes near the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza.

The Gaza Health Ministry reported that at least 222 Palestinians have been killed and 594 others injured since the ceasefire began.

Even though more aid has entered Gaza under the truce, residents still face severe shortages of food, water, and medicine because of Israeli restrictions. The UN said its aid operations have been disrupted by rerouting measures imposed by Israel.

Meanwhile, in the occupied West Bank, Israeli forces raided the city of Nablus, storming it from the Beit Furik checkpoint. In another raid in Kafr Ein near Ramallah, soldiers arrested 14-year-old Abdullah Malik Dar al-Eis and assaulted his family.

Since Israel launched its war on Gaza in October 2023, more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed and over 10,000 injured in Israeli attacks across Gaza and the West Bank, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

The UN Refugee Agency said over the past two years, Israeli forces and settlers have targeted Palestinian properties more than 2,400 times, displacing at least 3,000 people.

In July 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.