By Middle East Correspondent
London, (The Muslim News): Two Palestinians were killed and another wounded by Israeli fire across the Gaza Strip on Friday, as Israeli forces also demolished a residential building in the southern city of Khan Younis, in what medical and local sources described as continued violations of a ceasefire in force since October 10, 2025.
Palestinian, Ahmad Imran Al-Qanou, was killed by Israeli fire on Masoud Street in Jabalia, also in northern Gaza, in an area the army had likewise evacuated under the deal.
In southern Gaza, Israeli forces destroyed a four-storey residential building in central Khan Younis at dawn, wounding at least one Palestinian and forcing residents to flee, according to witnesses and medical sources. An Anadolu Agency correspondent, citing eyewitnesses, said an Israeli airstrike levelled the building, causing extensive damage to neighbouring structures and tents sheltering displaced families.
Witnesses said the Israeli army had warned the owner of a metal workshop beneath the building to evacuate prior to the strike, prompting residents and nearby civilians to remain outdoors. Medical sources said at least one person was injured by shrapnel.
Residents also reported multiple explosions from Israeli demolitions and airstrikes targeting buildings and facilities east of Khan Younis, alongside heavy gunfire from military vehicles and helicopters. Israeli fire was also reported east of Rafah and in several areas of Gaza City, including an airstrike on an open area in Sheikh Ajleen, southwest of the city, as well as demolitions east of Gaza City and intense gunfire towards eastern Jabalia camp and the Tuffah neighbourhood.
Despite a January announcement by the US administration that the second phase of the ceasefire agreement had begun, including further Israeli withdrawals and the start of reconstruction, estimated by the United Nations to cost around $70bn, Israeli forces have continued to violate the truce. Gaza’s Health Ministry says 574 Palestinians have been killed and 1,518 wounded since the ceasefire came into effect.
The truce halted an Israeli offensive that began in October 2023 and lasted more than a year, killing nearly 72,000 Palestinians and wounding more than 171,000 others, while destroying about 90 per cent of Gaza’s infrastructure.
Israel backs armed militias operating in Gaza
Separately, Israel has been covertly backing armed militias operating in Gaza in an effort to counter Hamas, the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth reported on Friday, while expressing doubt over the strategy’s effectiveness. The paper cited foreign reports indicating that Israel has supplied the groups with rifles, ammunition and logistical support, including fuel, food and vehicles, at an estimated cost of tens of millions of shekels drawn from the army’s budget.
According to the report, the militias operate near Israeli troop deployments in areas under Israeli military control, which currently cover more than 53 per cent of Gaza’s territory under the ceasefire agreement. The groups reportedly function outside formal command structures and beyond direct oversight by the Israeli army or the Shin Bet security agency, carrying out limited tactical roles such as searching for Hamas fighters in tunnels or rubble and conducting detentions to reduce risks to Israeli soldiers.
The newspaper noted that the militia led by Yasser Abu Shabab, before his killing, was the only group to operate with public visibility, releasing videos intended to project defiance towards Hamas.
The policy has drawn criticism within Israel. Analysts quoted by Yedioth Ahronoth said the militias lack the organisational capacity and popular legitimacy to pose a serious challenge to Hamas, which they say has been rebuilding influence during the ceasefire. “In the absence of a centralised leadership or coherent structure, evaluations indicate the militias’ chances of displacing Hamas remain limited,” the report said.
The paper also drew parallels with Israel’s reliance on allied militias in Lebanon during the 1980s, noting that the legacy of the Sabra and Shatila massacre continues to shape public and international perceptions. Lebanese militias backed by Israel killed between 2,000 and 3,500 civilians, mostly Palestinians, during the massacre in September 1982.
Journalists detained in West Bank, attacks against Palestinians continue
Meanwhile, in the occupied West Bank, Israeli forces on Friday detained two journalists, two foreign solidarity activists and a Palestinian anti-settlement activist in the southern city of Hebron while they were documenting attacks by illegal settlers, according to local sources.
Osama Makhamera, a Palestinian activist opposing settlement expansion, said Israeli forces stormed the Rujum al-Aala area after settlers attacked residents of Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron. He said the forces detained two journalists working for a foreign media outlet, two foreign activists, and Rateb al-Jbour, coordinator of the popular and national committees opposing settlement activity in southern Hebron.
The detainees were taken to a nearby Israeli settlement, Makhamera said. Al-Jbour was later released, while the fate of the journalists and foreign activists remains unknown. He added that Rujum al-Aala has faced repeated settler attacks in recent days, leaving residents, including women and children, injured, damaging homes and crops, and restricting access to farmland and grazing areas.
According to the Palestinian Authority’s Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, settlers carried out around 4,723 attacks across the West Bank in 2025, killing 14 Palestinians and forcibly displacing 13 Bedouin communities comprising 1,090 people. Official figures show the illegal settler population reached about 770,000 by the end of 2024, living in more than 180 settlements and 256 outposts.
Israel has intensified military operations in the West Bank since launching its war on Gaza on 8 October 2023, involving killings, arrests, forced displacement and settlement expansion, a trajectory Palestinians say is intended to pave the way for formal annexation. More than 1,112 Palestinians have been killed, about 11,500 wounded and more than 21,000 detained in the West Bank during that period, according to Palestinian estimates.
In July 2024, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
[Photo: Residents watch as civil defense teams conduct search operations to recover the bodies of Palestinians trapped under the rubble of a collapsed building following Israeli attacks on the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in Gaza City, Gaza, on February 07, 2026. Photojournalist: Saeed M. M. T. Jaras/AA]
