Israel responded to multiple violations of the Gaza ceasefire agreement on Tuesday, opening fire against Palestinians who posed a threat to its soldiers, its military stated.
The Israel Defense Forces stated that “an air force aircraft fired to repel suspicious vehicles that were moving north from the center of the Gaza Strip on a route that is not approved for vehicle traffic, without passing through the agreed inspection route.”
The Israeli Navy also fired at Palestinian vessels that defied security restrictions in Gaza’s maritime zone and failed to comply with a demand to return to the Strip’s shore, the IDF said. Subsequent fire forced the vessels to change course, Israel said.
In the central part of Gaza, soldiers shot at two Palestinians who, the IDF said, posed a threat to its forces. When warning shots failed to deter the two, Israeli troops fired a live round and “a hit was detected,” the IDF said.
Israeli forces throughout Gaza also fired warning shots “to repel suspects who were moving towards them and posed a threat,” per the IDF.
The Israeli military said it remained “determined to fully implement the terms of the deal to return hostages, is prepared for any scenario and will continue to take all necessary actions to remove immediate threats.” The IDF called on Palestinian noncombatants to “obey IDF instructions and not approach the soldiers deployed in the area.”
Since Jan. 28, Gazans have been allowed to cross into the northern part of the Gaza Strip after the IDF partially withdrew from the Netzarim Corridor in the central Strip as part of the ceasefire deal with Hamas.
Under the terms of the deal, Palestinians have been allowed to pass through the Netzarim Corridor on foot without undergoing security checks. Vehicles are also allowed to return northward but are subject to inspection by an international consortium of security companies.
The ceasefire, which went into effect on Jan. 19, ended 15 months of war initiated by Hamas’s terror attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, in which 1,200 people in Israel’s south were killed and another 251 were kidnapped to Gaza.
