Four Killed in Gaza Strikes Amidst Ceasefire Claims

At least four people were killed in Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, according to medical teams. Among the casualties were Akram Yassin and his wife Dina Abu Bakr, who were reportedly killed in an airstrike on an apartment in Gaza City. The IDF stated it targeted an armed operative in the area but provided no further details. In Khan Younis, medical personnel reported the death of a 17-year-old boy from gunfire near the Kizan al-Najjar neighborhood, and another Palestinian was killed by gunfire in the Zeitoun area east of Gaza City. "We are supposed to be in a ceasefire period, but honestly, we are not seeing a ceasefire or anything resembling it," said Mahmoud Yassin, whose brother was killed. "The war continues, the assassinations continue, and the shelling has not stopped." Medical sources in Gaza claim that at least 1,500 people have been killed by Israeli fire since the ceasefire went into effect. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently stated that Israel had approved the United Arab Emirates to operate a "bubble" for infrastructure work near an Israeli-controlled area in Gaza, despite Hamas not being disarmed. Netanyahu also said Israel would not permit Gaza's reconstruction until Hamas is dismantled and the territory is demilitarized. He explained Israel agreed to the Emirati initiative because "they are people who help us in many things." Meanwhile, Nikolay Mladenov, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, demanded Israel immediately allow entry for the technocratic committee and an international stabilization force, as stipulated in the Trump plan. Mladenov conveyed this demand in a letter to the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, Yoram Halevy, responding to Halevy's announcement suspending the import of goods to Gaza via private merchants. Mladenov emphasized that Hamas's extortion of merchants is not a new problem and that halting private sector imports would similarly impact humanitarian aid. He stressed the issue would persist as long as Hamas controls Gaza and urged the government to approve a pilot program for the Palestinian Technocratic Committee and the International Stabilization Force to operate in a limited area in Rafah, currently under IDF control without Hamas presence. The Israeli security cabinet had initially approved a limited number of international stabilization force soldiers for Rafah in late July, but this decision was later reversed under pressure from right-wing ministers.