A woman bids farewell to one of two Palestinians killed in a reported Israeli strike in Beit Hanun in the northern Gaza Strip on March 2, 2025. AFP
The ministry stated that the killed and injured were sent to "hospitals in the Gaza Strip following Israeli attacks on various parts of the territory.”
The attacks consisted of artillery shelling and tank fire in the southern cities of Rafah and Khan Younis, as well as in Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza, according to Palestinian news agency WAFA.
The Israeli occupation killed 116 Palestinians and wounded 490 others and also committed over 400 violations of the ceasefire/prisoner swap agreement, brokered by Egypt, Qatar, and the US, since it went into effect on 19 January, according to the Gaza government media office.
On Sunday, Israel renewed its deadly blockade on the strip, barring the entry of all humanitarian aid into the strip and warning of additional consequences if Hamas does not accept the new US proposal to extend the first phase of the ceasefire.
In turn, Hamas accused Israel of derailing the existing ceasefire agreement, adding that Tel Aviv's decision to re-block aid to the strip was “cheap extortion, a war crime, and a blatant attack" on the truce.
The 42-day first phase stipulated that Israel cease bombing of the strip, allow the entry of humanitarian aid to Gaza, and release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners from its jails.
In return, Hamas would release more than two dozen captives and the bodies of captives killed by Israeli bombardment.
The deal also stipulated that both parties would begin talks on issues related to ending the war and the full Israeli withdrawal from the stip at the end of the first phase.
The Israeli side violated the agreement on multiple fronts, with intermittent deadly bombardments, delaying the release of the seventh batch of Palestinian prisoners last week, and refusing to start talks on arrangements for ending the war and withdrawal,
In February, US President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, proposed that Israel extend the first phase of the ceasefire agreement by 42 days.
Israel and Witkoff want Hamas to release half of all remaining Israeli captives during the extension but without giving any guarantees that Te Aviv would not resume its genocidal war or withdraw from the strip.
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