By Harun Nasrullah
London, (The Muslim News): A 70-year-old woman and her son were among seven Palestinians killed in the northern Gaza Strip after Israeli forces chased them down and attacked them with a quadcopter drone, despite a ceasefire that has ostensibly been in place for nearly two months.
Medical sources said the bodies of three men, along with two injured people, were taken to Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City following an Israeli drone strike in the al-Atatra area of Beit Lahia. In the nearby town of Jabalia, another Palestinian was fatally shot by Israeli forces.
Gaza’s Civil Defense reported that the woman and her son were directly targeted by Israeli troops while they were travelling to Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in eastern Gaza City for treatment.
In a separate incident, a critically injured person was transported to the same hospital in central Gaza City after Israeli artillery struck near the Shejaiya Club in the east of the city. Another civilian was wounded when Israeli forces targeted a group of people in eastern Khan Younis, an area from which the army had withdrawn under the ceasefire agreement.
On Friday evening, Gaza’s Civil Defense confirmed that one of its members, Suhail Abdullah Dahman, had been killed and his son critically injured in an Israeli strike as they attempted to inspect their home in the Beit Lahiya housing project—an area outside Israeli military control. Dahman’s death brings the number of civil defence personnel killed since October 2023 to 142.
Earlier on Saturday, Israel launched a fresh round of heavy airstrikes and carried out demolitions in several areas under its control across Gaza, marking further violations of the ceasefire that took effect on October 10. The Israeli army continues to hold the southern and eastern corridors of the enclave, along with large sections of the north, amounting to more than half of the territory.
Despite the ceasefire, Israel has committed hundreds of violations and killed 366 Palestinians as of Thursday, according to Gaza authorities. Israel’s war on the territory has now killed at least 70,354 Palestinians and wounded 171,030 since October 2023.
In the occupied West Bank, Israeli forces shot dead two Palestinians on Saturday, alleging they had attempted to carry out a car-ramming attack at a checkpoint in Hebron. The army claimed the pair accelerated their vehicle towards soldiers, who opened fire and killed them instantly. No Israeli injuries were reported.
However, the Palestinian news agency Wafa said Israeli forces deployed in central Hebron opened fire on a civilian vehicle in the Bab a-Zawiya area and then prevented Palestinian Red Crescent ambulances from reaching the scene. The Red Crescent confirmed its teams were blocked from accessing the injured.
At least 1,088 Palestinians have been killed and more than 10,700 wounded by Israeli forces and illegal settlers in the West Bank since October 2023. Over 20,500 people have been arrested in the same period.
In July last year, the International Court of Justice issued a landmark advisory opinion declaring Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and calling for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Meanwhile, Israeli media reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a secret meeting about a week ago with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair to discuss “the day after” arrangements for Gaza. Netanyahu’s office declined to comment on the meeting.
Sources familiar with the matter told the public broadcaster KAN that “Blair is working on an initiative proposing the introduction of the Palestinian Authority to assume administration of certain designated areas inside the Gaza Strip, with implementation beginning on a trial basis and becoming permanent if successful.” KAN said the plan is contingent on reforms within Palestinian Authority institutions. Israel’s security establishment has reviewed the proposal in recent days and has not dismissed it, while Blair has reportedly been engaging several Arab states to build support for the initiative. His name has also been linked to US President Donald Trump’s plan for a new Gaza administration council under Blair’s leadership.
At the Doha Forum 2025 this week, a senior Saudi official warned against attempts to “redefine” the Gaza ceasefire or renegotiate terms already endorsed by the UN Security Council.
“We cannot be open to redefinition and renegotiation of what we have already agreed to and also what was issued as a Security Council resolution that was passed and welcomed by all parties,” said Manal Radwan, Minister Plenipotentiary at the Saudi Foreign Ministry. “So we cannot go back and redefine what we mean by ceasefire, what we mean even by disarmament, what we mean by a Palestinian-led process in governing Gaza.”
Radwan cautioned that shifting the framework risks diverting attention from the broader conflict. “We cannot be redefining these things back and forth and getting ourselves into a sidetrack that gets us into so many details about what, who, when, and we lose sight of the overall and the core of the conflict,” she said.
[Photo: Palestinians in the city of Khan Yunis in southern Gaza are struggling to rebuild their lives amid the rubble of homes destroyed in Israeli attacks on December 07, 2025. Thousands of rockets struck residential areas during the intense bombardment, leveling numerous houses and high-rise buildings. Residents are now trying to clear the debris of their destroyed homes on their own and make use of any remaining structures in an effort to continue their lives. Photojournalist: Abed Rahim Khatib/AA]
