On Saturday, Israeli forces continued to violate the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip, shelling several areas and opening fire across the devastated coastal enclave.
A medical source at Al-Shifa Hospital said a child sustained moderate injuries after Israeli forces opened fire toward tents sheltering displaced Palestinians in the Sudaniya area, northwest of Gaza City.
Israeli artillery also shelled areas east of Gaza City and near the Sanfour Junction in the city’s Tuffah neighborhood.
Media sources said Israeli forces opened fire east of Deir al-Balah and east of the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza.
Before dawn on Saturday, Israeli quadcopter drones dropped explosive devices on homes near Mushtaha Street and the Shuja’iyya market, east of Gaza City. No injuries were reported. At the same time, Israeli military vehicles stationed east of the city opened heavy fire.
In southern Gaza, Israeli artillery fired shells toward areas northwest of Rafah. Israeli military vehicles also opened heavy fire south of Khan Younis, while Israeli navy vessels fired toward the city’s coast.
Saturday’s attacks followed Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip on Friday that killed two Palestinians and injured several others, including in Gaza City. A three-year-old girl also sustained a serious head injury when Israeli forces opened fire toward tents sheltering displaced Palestinians in Khan Younis.
Civil Defense Expands Recovery Operations
In a related development, Al Jazeera reported that Gaza Civil Defense crews were searching the ruins of the six-story Engineers Tower in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, seeking to recover the bodies of dozens of Palestinians trapped beneath the rubble.
The operation is the second phase of a body-recovery project launched in Gaza City in early July and later expanded to central Gaza.
At a press conference on Saturday, Civil Defense officials said debris-clearing and recovery operations were continuing despite severe equipment shortages and dangerous conditions. They described the effort as a humanitarian and moral duty that would allow families to recover and bury their loved ones with dignity.
The mayor of Nuseirat said the municipality was dedicating its limited resources to reopening roads and clearing debris. He added that clearing the rubble could neither compensate mothers for the loss of their children nor reunite bereaved families, but it could uphold their basic right to recover and bid farewell to their loved ones.
A Civil Defense spokesperson said the Engineers Tower contained 24 apartments and was sheltering more than 300 Palestinians when Israeli forces bombed it. Crews recovered approximately 150 bodies in November 2023 and are now working to retrieve dozens more from beneath the rubble.
Gaza Civil Defense appealed to governments and international organizations for urgent political action and support for recovery operations throughout the Gaza Strip. It also acknowledged assistance from the International Committee of the Red Cross, forensic teams, police, municipalities, and other local agencies.
Dr. Abdul-Majid, speaking on behalf of the victims’ families, said clearing the rubble and rebuilding could not erase what Israeli forces had done to the residents. He called for justice and accountability.
He said thousands of Palestinians remain beneath the rubble across the Gaza Strip, adding that any government or institution obstructing rescue crews was forsaking basic humanity and dignity.
The families’ representative urged Civil Defense crews to handle with care the remains of women and children recovered from beneath the destroyed tower.
Israeli Ministers Renew Calls to Remove Palestinians from Gaza
Meanwhile, proposals to remove Palestinians from the Gaza Strip returned to the political forefront in recent days following statements by Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.
On Wednesday, Katz said he saw no “real solution” for Gaza without the migration of its Palestinian population, adding that Israel was prepared to remove them “by sea, by air and by every means possible.” He said the plan had been frozen but not canceled.
On Thursday, Ben-Gvir presented a seven-year plan to remove Palestinians from the Gaza Strip through what he described as “voluntary emigration.” The proposal calls for establishing a dedicated government ministry to oversee the program in Israel’s next government.
The statements come as negotiations over Gaza’s future and implementation of the ceasefire agreement’s subsequent stages remain stalled by disputes over an Israeli withdrawal, the disarmament of Hamas, governance arrangements, and reconstruction. No political breakthrough had emerged by Saturday morning.
Casualty Figures
Since the “ceasefire” took effect on October 10, 2025, Israeli attacks have killed 1,340 Palestinians, including about 315 children and 160 women, and injured 4,429 others, while emergency crews have recovered 815 bodies, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said that since Israel began its genocide in the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023, Israeli forces have killed at least 73,476 Palestinians, including about 21,692 children and 13,075 women, and injured more than 174,540 others.
