KHAN YUNIS: Gaza’s civil defence agency said on Sunday that nine people were killed in Israeli strikes in the south of the Palestinian territory.

On Saturday evening, “Israeli strikes hit police posts... in the Al-Mawasi area” killing eight, said Mohammed al-Mughair, an official at the agency which operates under Hamas authority.

Another person was killed on Sunday “after being hit by fire from Israeli forces” at a roundabout in Khan Yunis, Mughair said.

According to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa, a young girl was among the dead on Saturday night. Images showed bodies being transported from the morgue of Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis then laid out on the ground, wrapped in white shrouds.

During the funerals, one woman was screaming, surrounded by crying men and children. “Each day, the enemy hunts down and kills,” said Ahmed al-Sufi, a Palestinian who had lost family.

Israeli army issued a statement in which it said it had “eliminated” overnight “a cell of 10 armed terrorists from Hamas operating in the centre” of Gaza, as well as another person the day before who had repeatedly crossed the yellow line behind which Israeli forces in Gaza have withdrawn.

Israel and Hamas continue to accuse each other of violating the ceasefire in place since October 10 that largely halted two years of war in the territory.

Israel has continued to strike Gaza, killing at least 702 Palestinians since the start of the ceasefire, according to the Gaza health ministry, which also operates under Hamas authority.

The United Nations considers the ministry’s figures to be reliable. Israel says five of its soldiers have been killed since the start of the truce.

Published in Dawn, March 30th, 2026