GAZA/JERUSALEM, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Three Palestinians, including two children, were killed on Saturday by Israeli army fire in the northern Gaza Strip, according to Palestinian sources.
Mahmoud Basal, spokesperson for the Civil Defense in Gaza, told Xinhua that two children were killed in an Israeli airstrike near the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip.
Basal added that a third Palestinian was killed and several others were wounded in Israeli shelling that targeted a gathering of civilians in Jabalia, also in the north of the enclave.
Eyewitnesses said the Israeli army demolished residential buildings east of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, accompanied by gunfire from Israeli helicopters in the area.
Rafah also witnessed gunfire from Israeli helicopters, while Israeli artillery shelled the eastern outskirts of Gaza City, eyewitnesses reported.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement that "IDF troops operating in the northern Gaza Strip identified several terrorists who crossed the Yellow Line, planted an explosive device in the area, and approached the troops, posing an immediate threat to them."
Following the identification, the forces "struck and eliminated the terrorists in order to remove the threat," it said.
Meanwhile, Gaza-based health authorities said in a brief that the bodies of four Palestinians and 12 wounded arrived at hospitals over the past 48 hours. This brought the death toll since a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas came into effect on Oct. 10, 2025, to 481, with 1,313 others wounded.
The brief added that the total number of Palestinians killed since the outbreak of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, 2023, has reached 71,654, with 171,391 wounded.
Despite the strikes, the newly-formed Palestinian technocratic committee tasked with administering the Gaza Strip has begun its work. In a post on his Facebook page, committee head Ali Abdel Hamid Shaath stated that the necessary assurances and preparations are in place to resume operations at Gaza's only power plant. ■
