Israel carried out at least three airstrikes on Gaza City late Tuesday, Gaza’s civil defense agency said, just hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the military to launch new attacks in violation of the existing cease-fire.
"The occupation is now bombing Gaza with at least three air strikes despite the cease-fire agreement," Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for the agency, told AFP. Witnesses told AFP that they heard the blasts.
An Israeli airstrike hit the Shati refugee camp west of Gaza City, while artillery fire targeted areas east of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, Anadolu Agency (AA) reported. Missiles also struck around the Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City. Local media said an Israeli drone struck the courtyard of the Shifa Hospital, located inside areas beyond the "yellow line" from which Israeli forces had previously withdrawn under the cease-fire deal.
"Following security consultations, Prime Minister Netanyahu instructed the military to immediately carry out powerful strikes in the Gaza Strip," a statement from his office said.
Netanyahu made the announcement shortly after Israel claimed that Hamas had opened fire at Israeli forces in southern Gaza.
