At least 13 killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza after Hamas agree disarmament deal
Jamie Whitehead
Reuters
Officials say two people were killed in the attack on Gaza City
At least 13 people, including several children, have been killed in the latest strikes on Gaza, Palestinian officials have said.
Gaza's Civil Defence Authority said Israeli military aircraft carried out the attacks on Gaza City, Khan Younis and Deir el-Balah.
It was the second successive night of Israeli strikes on the territory, and it comes days after Hamas accepted a disarmament plan, which would see the Palestinian group hand over its weapons to US President Donald Trump's Board of Peace.
A spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), said it was targeting military operatives in Gaza, and two Hamas militants were killed.
The Israeli Energy Minister, Eli Cohen, said on Sunday that no deal had been reached to stop attacks on the Gaza Strip, a territory now under 70% Israeli control.
Cohen added that he saw a need for the strip to be placed under the full control of Israel if Hamas did not disarm - despite the Board of Peace plan for Israel to pull out of the territory - the Reuters news agency reported.
In a post on X on Sunday, the IDF said it had killed two Hamas commanders, one from the elite Nukbha force, and one from the Maghazi Battalion.
The IDF also said killed another Hamas militant from the Jabalia Battalion in northern Gaza in a separate attack last week. It said all three were planning to attack Israeli targets.
Palestinian health officials said two people, including a child, were killed in a strike on a residential building in Gaza City, while another person was killed near Jabalia in northern Gaza.
A father, mother and their nine-year-old son were killed after a strike on a house in Khan Younis, and a man and woman died after their apartment block was struck in Deir el-Balah.
More than 1,100 Palestinians have been killed since a supposed ceasefire came into effect last October.
Reuters
In Deir al-Balah, residents assess the damage of the strikes
Last week, President Trump said the Board of Peace had reached an agreement for the "complete disarmament" of Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza.
On Friday Trump insisted that Israel was "very happy" with the proposed agreement, describing it as a "big step for the Middle East".
But Israel remains deeply sceptical about Hamas' willingness to give up its weapons or its control in Gaza. Far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir dismissed the draft as "not acceptable".
It is part of the second phase of a US-brokered Gaza ceasefire plan that aims to end the war in Gaza.
The 20-point plan, unveiled in September last year, included the creation of the Board of Peace to oversee the agreement's implementation, as well as the disarmament of Hamas, withdrawal of Israeli troops and reconstruction of Gaza.
A 15-point road map was also published on Friday, which sets out the final steps for implementing the agreement.
What's in the Gaza peace deal roadmap?
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The roadmap, which has not yet been implemented, states: "A process shall begin to inventory and store heavy weapons, military production sites, weapons depots, and tunnels".
It says this is conditional on Israel meeting its commitments under the initial ceasefire agreement.
How the weapons would be handed over to the Board of Peace is not yet clear, although it is believed that all heavy weapons and other military hardware would be moved into storage and managed by the Palestinian National Committee - a group of independent technocrats to which Hamas has agreed to hand over power.
The committee has so far been working from Cairo and has not entered Gaza.
Israel has destroyed more than 1,500 buildings in areas of Gaza that have remained under its control since the ceasefire, satellite images seen by BBC Verify last November showed. The actual number is likely much higher, with imagery unavailable for some areas.
According to UN estimates, around 60 million tonnes of debris has been generated since October 2023.
Hamas - proscribed by the UK government as a terror organisation - has governed the Gaza Strip since 2007.
Who is on Trump's 'Board of Peace' overseeing Gaza's reconstruction?
Reuters
Reuters