Israeli forces violate ceasefire, kill 2 Palestinian children

Israeli forces continued their aggression and arrested 64 Palestinians including minors reportedly for celebrating the release of Palestinian prisoners in eastern Qalqilya.

The ceasefire agreement between Israel and Palestine-based group Hamas brokered on January 19 to bring relief to war-torn Gaza, has been marred by reports of continued violence. On the following day, two Palestinian children were shot dead by the Israeli army in Rafah, a city in the southern Gaza Strip, sparking widespread outrage and grief.

Ceasefire violations

According to reports, one of the victims was identified as Zakaria Hamid Yahya Barbakh who was shot near al-Awda Square in Rafah. Israeli forces opened fire on a civilian who attempted to retrieve the dead body of Zakaria.

Another Palestinian child was killed earlier in the day at the same place.

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Allegations of violation of the ceasefire include that Israeli tanks entered the buffer zone 850 meters into Gaza, which is 150 meters into the stipulated limit, and opened fire on civilians. It raises the tentatively of quite fragile ceasefire which was aimed to give a breathing spell from a one-year-long devastating conflict.

Humanitarian crisis in Gaza

The Israel-Hamas ceasefire came with humanitarian provisions which have started to flow into Gaza. However, efforts remain inadequate to meet the overwhelming needs in most affected regions.

According to reports of Al Jazeera, Civil Defence teams in Gaza reported that they recovered 66 bodies from the debris of the destroyed buildings and homes on Sunday while the Palestinian Health Ministry stated 60 more civilians were killed by an Israeli airstrike on the same day.

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Gaza authorities estimate that thousands of bodies still remain unrecovered beneath the rubble of the ruined buildings and more than 2,800 bodies turned into ashes by the extreme heat generated by Israeli weapons.

The devastating destruction is palpable on infrastructure with experts reporting that over two-thirds of Gaza’s buildings are damaged or destroyed.

Violence beyond Gaza

The violence is confined only to Gaza as Israeli illegal settlers accompanied by military forces targeted and attacked Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank.

Reports indicate several houses, a nursery and a local business were set ablaze. The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed concern over the settler attacks defining it as a surge of new aggression amid ongoing truce talks.

It is pertinent to mention here that Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip are illegal under international law, according to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Furthermore, Israeli forces continued their aggression and arrested 64 Palestinians including minors reportedly for celebrating the release of Palestinian prisoners in eastern Qalqilya.

Video footage surfaced on social media shows the arrested people walking in a long queue and handcuffed while escorted by Israeli forces.

This comes shortly after Israel released 90 Palestinian prisoners, mostly women and children, as part of the truce deal mediated by Egypt, Qatar, and the United States.

A fragile ceasefire

The 42-day ceasefire aimed at facilitating phased talks has brought a glimmer of light to the phase that has suffered recurring carnage. However, the continued aggression threatens all the progress that has been drafted under the ceasefire.

The Palestinian Health Ministry reveals that the total number of deaths in the Gaza Strip is still increasing and the situation remains tense. Nearly 47,000 Palestinians have been killed, predominantly women and children, with over 110,700 injured since October 7, 2023

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