Gaza civil defence says 11 killed in Israeli strikes

Gaza's civil defence agency said 11 people were killed in Israeli strikes on Wednesday, while Israel's military said it was hitting Hamas targets across the Gaza Strip.

Six people were killed in Gaza City in the north of the Palestinian territory and five in the southern Khan Yunis area, the civil defence agency, which operates under Hamas authority, told AFP.

The Israeli military said it was striking Hamas targets after militants opened fire toward an area where troops were operating in the territory's south.

"This action constitutes a violation of the ceasefire agreement. No IDF (Israeli military) injuries were reported. In response, the IDF began striking Hamas terrorist targets across the Gaza Strip," the military said in a statement.

Despite occasional flare-ups, a fragile truce has been holding in Gaza since October 10, based on a US-brokered deal centred on the return of 48 Israeli hostages, both living and dead.

While the bodies of only three hostages remain in Gaza, the implementation of the second stage of US President Donald Trump's ceasefire plan has yet to be agreed, particularly as it concerns disarming Hamas, establishing a transitional authority and deploying an international stabilisation force.

The war was sparked by the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, which resulted in the death of 1,221 people.

Israel's retaliatory assault on Gaza killed at least 69,513 people, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory's health ministry that the UN considers reliable.