Three of the Palestinians were killed by Israel as they tried to return to the ruins of their destroyed homes [Getty]
Four Palestinians including an elderly woman were killed by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, despite the ceasefire reached at the end of last month.
Local sources said that Israeli troops targeted three of the Palestinians as they travelled to their destroyed homes to inspect them, east of the Kuwait Roundabout in Gaza City, where Israel committed massacres during the war.
Israeli forces fired a shell at them as soon as they got near the area, which is around 400 metres from a fence near which Israeli troops are operating.
The Israeli military claimed it had fired warning shots before killing the three men, who were all from the Al-Khalili family.
Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for Gaza’s civil defence agency, said there were “three martyrs and several injured as a result of Israeli occupation forces opening fire on civilians in the eastern areas of Gaza City”.
He urged residents to avoid the eastern areas and Israeli military positions, emphasising the importance of following official directives.
In the Khuza’a area east of Khan Younis, an elderly Palestinian woman was shot dead by Israeli forces near her home.
She was taken to the Gaza European Hospital where she died of her injuries.
Israeli forces withdrew from the Netzarim Junction in the centre of the Gaza Strip on Sunday morning, in line with the ceasefire agreement, which is now in its 22nd day.
Images of the area showed the extent of the destruction there, with Israeli forces destroying most homes around the strategic corridor, which links northern and southern Gaza.
Since the ceasefire agreement was reached in late January, Israeli forces have violated a number of times, killing and injuring Palestinians in Gaza. They have also launched attacks in the West Bank, particularly in Jenin, killing dozens of Palestinians.
The death toll from the Gaza War has now reached 61,707, with the bodies of thousands of victims being discovered under the rubble of homes and buildings destroyed in Israeli airstrikes.
Agencies contributed to this report.
