Israeli strike kills four Palestinians in Gaza

Tehran: Israeli fire has killed four people and wounded 14 in the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours, Palestinian officials said, even as a fragile ceasefire with Hamas has largely held.

Israeli strikes have killed dozens of Palestinians who the army says had approached its troops or entered unauthorized areas in violation of the January truce.

Israel last week suspended supplies of goods and electricity to the territory of more than 2 million Palestinians as it tries to pressure the militant group to accept an extension of the first phase of their ceasefire. That phase ended March 1.

Meanwhile, In a new statement, Hamas has said that Israel continues to prevent the entry of humanitarian aid and basic materials into the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian group called the closure of the crossings into Gaza a violation of the ceasefire agreement and of international law that threatened the innocent lives.

“We call on the mediators to pressure the occupation to abide by its commitments and open the crossings immediately, to ensure the flow of humanitarian aid and end the policy of collective punishment pursued by the occupation authorities against our people,” Hamas said. “While we condemn the use of aid as a political blackmail card, we affirm that these aggressive policies will not break the will of our people, and will not succeed in achieving the occupation’s goals.”