Israel has escalated its attacks in Gaza in the five weeks since halting its joint bombing of Iran with the US, redirecting its fire back on the ruined Palestinian enclave, where the military claims Hamas fighters are tightening their grip.

According to the Gaza health ministry, 120 Palestinians, including eight women and 13 children, were killed in Gaza since the Iran war was paused on April 8 — 20 per cent more than in the five weeks prior, when Israel was flying sorties over Iran.

Conflict monitor ACLED, which tracks Israeli attacks in Gaza, says in a monthly report for April that Israel had carried out 35pc more attacks last month than in March.

“The war is still ongoing,” says Lafi Al-Najjar, 36, a blind Palestinian, one of whose sons was killed on April 28 in an Israeli attack.

“It stopped in the announcement, but in reality and on the ground, the war has not stopped,” adds Najjar, whose family have been living in a tented camp in the ruins of Khan Younis, once Gaza’s second-largest city.

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