Israeli Drone Strike Kills Two Siblings In Gaza

By Micheal Chukwuebuka

Two Palestinian children were killed in an Israeli drone strike near a school sheltering displaced families in southern Gaza, according to medical staff at Nasser Hospital. The victims, 11-year-old Fadi Abu Assi and his eight-year-old brother, Goma, were struck while close to Beni Suhaila on Sunday.

Relatives said the brothers had been gathering firewood for their wheelchair-bound father when the drone hit. “They are children… what did they do?” their uncle, Mohamed Abu Assi, lamented. At the funeral, their father wept over one of the boys as mourners peeled back his shroud to reveal his face.

In response to a request for comment, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told Sky News that troops had identified “two suspects” crossing a restricted zone and engaging in “suspicious activities” that posed “an immediate threat” to soldiers in the area. The IDF said the individuals were eliminated to remove the perceived danger.

The incident comes amid renewed tension less than two months after a US-brokered 20-point ceasefire agreement took effect in October. Hamas has accused Israel of repeatedly violating the truce, while Israel maintains that its operations target militants responsible for breaches. According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, at least 352 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire began on 10 October.

The Hamas-run ministry says more than 70,000 people have died in the wider conflict, though Israeli officials dispute the figures, accusing Hamas of inflating casualty numbers. With the shaky ceasefire providing intermittent pauses in fighting, authorities in Gaza say they are finally able to locate and record thousands of previously uncounted dead.