News - Middle East: The Israeli military has killed two Palestinians in the Gaza Strip in yet another violation of a fragile ceasefire agreement with the Hamas resistance group.

In a statement on Wednesday, the occupation’s army said that the Palestinian men were killed in two separate attacks in central Gaza.

It also claimed that the victims posed a “threat” after they crossed the so-called “yellow line,” the mostly invisible boundary in Gaza established under US President Donald Trump's plan, behind which Israeli troops remain.

Meanwhile, Gaza health authorities said Israeli fire also killed a Palestinian collecting firewood in central Gaza. However, the Israeli military claimed that it was not aware of the incident.

Hamas and Israel agreed last month to the US-brokered Gaza ceasefire, which ended the latter’s two-year-long genocide against Palestinians in the besieged territory.

The truce took effect on October 10, but Israel has continued to violate it by carrying out airstrikes, incursions, shootings, and arrests.

Despite the ceasefire, Israeli forces remain stationed along the yellow line and have been authorized to respond to perceived threats with lethal force. According to the Israeli military, anyone who crosses the line is considered an “imminent threat.” 

Palestinian officials say the “yellow line” lacks any legal basis under international law.

Hamas has condemned the Israeli attacks on Palestinians along the line as “full-fledged crimes that expose the occupation’s premeditated intent to target unarmed civilians without justification.”

Since the ceasefire, Israel has killed 241 Palestinians and injured 609 others across the Gaza Strip.

Israel has cited alleged breaches by resistance fighters to justify its deadly attacks. Hamas, however, has rejected the accusations and stressed its full compliance with the ceasefire.

The first phase of the deal required Hamas to release 20 surviving Israeli captives and 28 bodies of dead Israelis in exchange for Israel freeing nearly 2,000 Palestinian abductees and transferring the bodies of 360 Palestinians killed during the Gaza onslaught.

So far, Hamas has handed over all 20 living Israeli captives and the remains of 22 others, and Israel has released nearly 2,000 Palestinians, held unlawfully by the regime, and returned the bodies of 285 Palestinians.

Reports say the second phase of the ceasefire will include an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the formation of a technocratic administration, and the deployment of an international stabilization mission.

“We have not yet reached the second stage of the agreement,” senior Hamas leader Mousa Abu Marzouk told Qatar’s Al Jazeera television network on Tuesday. “Israel has not won its war on Gaza, and our people have not raised the white flag after two years of genocide.”

Israel, having failed to achieve its objectives of the genocidal war on Gaza, has killed 68,875 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 170,679 others since October 7, 2023.

Source: Press TV