Palestinians say Israeli forces killed two children, amid persistent violence

By AARON BOXERMAN and RAWAN SHEIKH AHMAD

Israeli forces killed two children in the Gaza Strip in a strike Saturday, according to the family and a Palestinian health official, amid persistent violence in the territory despite an ongoing ceasefire.

Ahmed al-Farra, an official at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, which received their bodies, said the two children had been killed in Bani Suheila, an eastern neighborhood of the city that is close to the so-called yellow line to which Israeli forces withdrew as part of the ceasefire.

The children’s father and uncle identified the two boys as a pair of brothers, Fadi and Juma Abu Assi, the older of whom was 10 years old.

They said the two had gone out to gather wood, leaving their home on the outskirts of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, before being killed.

The Israeli military said forces had “identified two suspects” who crossed the ceasefire lines, “conducted suspicious activities on the ground” and posed a threat to nearby Israeli soldiers in southern Gaza.

The military did not comment on reports the two were children. “Following the identification, the air force, directed by forces on the ground, eliminated the suspects in order to remove the threat,” the military said in a statement.

Much about the episode remains unclear, including how the brothers might have wound up crossing the withdrawal line. In a separate incident Saturday, the Israeli military said its forces had also killed a militant in southern Gaza who crossed the yellow line.