Israel kills eight in Gaza as ceasefire violations continue a year on

Israeli forces killed at least eight Palestinians across the Gaza Strip on Wednesday as ceasefire violations continued a year after the agreement was signed.

An Israeli air strike hit a civilian transport vehicle in the Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood of western Gaza City, killing five people and wounding 15 others, including women and children.

The strike hit a cart attached to a minibus used to transport passengers amid severe fuel shortages and soaring transport costs across the enclave.

Such vehicles are often packed with dozens of people travelling between different areas of the Strip.

“The Israeli missile struck the civilian transport vehicle at a crowded hour of the day, when the streets were full of displaced people moving around,” Motaz Ayoub, a civil defence ambulance officer who was among the first responders to reach the scene, told Middle East Eye.

“When we arrived, many of the killed and wounded were scattered across the street. We did not know who they were or where they had come from. One man's body was cut off, and many of the injured were in critical condition.”

Ayoub said a bus passing close to the vehicle was also hit, leaving several passengers wounded.

Ayman Shubair, 47, was inside his mobile phone shop about 100 metres from the site of the strike.

'Where is the ceasefire they keep talking about?'

- Ayman Shubair, Gaza resident

He had been speaking to a customer just seconds before the bombing.

“The sound of the explosion was deafening. I thought the building I was in had been bombed,” he told MEE.

“The customer fell to the ground from fear and could not move for several minutes.”

Shubair said people in the street began running in all directions as others shouted for help.

“People were screaming, ‘Come and help,’” he said. “I stayed inside the shop because I was afraid there would be another strike.”

He said he had already expected an attack in the area after noticing Israeli drones flying unusually low since the previous day.

They had become even more visible on the morning of the strike, he said.

Ceasefire violations

Last week, Shubair said, he survived another attack on a vehicle less than 30 metres from his shop.

“I still remember that day. I saw the bodies of two people burning inside the car after it was hit,” he said.

Like most people in Gaza, Shubair is increasingly afraid to move around the city - whether walking in the street, going to his shop, buying food or travelling in a vehicle.

“There is no safe place in Gaza,” he said. “Where is the ceasefire they keep talking about? Everywhere, all the time, there are bombings and random Israeli gunfire.

“The Israeli forces claim they do not kill civilians, but that is a lie. If they want to target someone, they kill everyone around them too.”

Separate attacks elsewhere in Gaza City and Khan Younis killed three more people.

The strikes came as Israel stepped up its near-daily violations of the ceasefire signed in October last year.

On Tuesday, Israeli strikes killed another eight people.

'Everyone feels the danger of being bombed or witnessing a strike nearby'

- Motaz Ayoub, ambulance officer

Ayoub said the situation in the Strip had been worsening in recent days.

“The Israeli drones are lately flying low over the city. People are so concerned,” the civil defence worker said.

“Everyone feels the danger of being bombed or witnessing a strike nearby.”

Israeli forces have killed at least 1,430 people since the ceasefire was signed, an average of around four people a day.

They include at least 300 children.

The agreement was intended to end Israel’s genocide and lift restrictions on the entry of aid and commercial goods.

Israel has repeatedly violated the agreement, carrying out near-daily bombing raids while maintaining tight restrictions on the entry of aid and goods.

Overall, Israeli forces have killed more than 74,000 Palestinians since the genocide began in October 2023 and wounded more than 175,000 others.