The death toll of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip continued to rise yesterday despite a partial, seven-hour ceasefire unilaterally declared by Israel and its armed forces. Shortly after it was meant to come into force, Israeli missiles struck a house in northern Gaza’s Shati refugee camp, killing an eight-year-old girl and injuring 29 other people.
There was still fighting in the southern Gazan town of Rafah, which the Israeli military excluded from its self-declared ceasefire and where it said it wanted to destroy cross-border tunnels into Egypt and Israel. According to local officials, at least 20 Palestinians were killed yesterday, including two in an Israeli air strike next to a water desalination plant.
