Drone attack leaves 6 Palestinians dead
At least six Palestinians have been killed in Israeli drone attacks targeting two police posts in the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip and the al-Mawasi area in Khan Younis in the south, as Israel continues its more than two-year war on the devastated enclave.
The attacks overnight into Friday were condemned by Hamas as undermining mediator efforts during a “ceasefire” phase that Israel has allegedly violated almost daily since October 10.
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Medical sources at Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis reported the arrival of four bodies and several wounded individuals following an Israeli military strike on a police checkpoint at the al-Maslakh intersection in al-Mawasi.
The sources said the strike occurred in an area outside the Israeli military’s control and described the condition of some of the wounded as critical.
In the central Gaza Strip, two Palestinians were killed, and others were injured in a similar Israeli drone strike that targeted a police post at the entrance to the Bureij refugee camp.
Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem said the rising number of deaths as a result of the ongoing Israeli bombardment across the Gaza Strip reflects “the Zionist occupation’s blatant disregard for the efforts of mediators, and its complete disregard for the Peace Council and its role”.
Qassem added in a statement that Israel is continuing its war against the Palestinian people, despite changes in form and method, indicating that “the talk of the guarantor states about stopping the war lacks any real substance on the ground”.
Reporting from Gaza City, Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum said, “It has been a bloody night. Israeli forces carried out a series of deadly air strikes, this time primarily focusing on police checkpoints deployed too close to areas where armed militias are operating in eastern communities of the Gaza Strip, particularly in Khan Younis and the Bureij refugee camp.
“Six police members have been killed as a result. The timing and location are critically reshaping the equation between both sides. Israel has made clear that it will not be responsible for reorganising the remnants of life in Gaza. That’s why any restoration of previous services, including police, will be thwarted,” he added.
The Gaza Crossings and Borders Authority on Friday reported that 50 Palestinians travelled through the Rafah crossing into Egypt on Thursday, including 13 patients and 37 companions, while 41 citizens returned to Gaza.
There has been limited movement in either direction since Israel partially reopened the crossing. Thousands of Palestinians require urgent medical attention outside the enclave, but Israel is severely restricting their exit.
The authority also reported that 286 trucks entered Gaza on Thursday, including 174 commercial trucks and 112 carrying aid. That remains far below the 600 aid trucks required daily to meet the needs of a population still facing hunger and hardship due to the blockade.
Meanwhile, Israel has ordered 37 aid groups to halt operations in the occupied territory unless they hand over personal details about Palestinian staff by Sunday, March 1, a move described as potentially devastating.
Seventeen international NGOs, including Doctors Without Borders, Oxfam, the Norwegian Refugee Council and CARE International, have challenged the order in Israel’s Supreme Court, warning they could be forced to stop operations.
Oxfam said the effect would be immediate and extend beyond individual organisations to the wider humanitarian system. Pressure on international humanitarian groups has escalated sharply since October 7, 2023.
