Israel-Hamas cease-fire takes effect, first hostage release to come in hours
The temporary cease-fire between Israel and Hamas that started Friday at 7:00 a.m. local time in Gaza has been off to a shaky start amid reports of continued violence.
According to the Associated Press, Israeli troops fatally shot two Palestinians and wounded several others who were traveling toward northern Gaza. Israel Defense Forces (IDF) previously warned displaced Palestinians to remain in southern Gaza and not to return to the war-torn north.
An Associated Press journalist reported seeing the two bodies and 11 others who were wounded as they arrived at a hospital in the town of Deir al-Balah in southern Gaza.
Friday’s shooting came hours after the Israeli military warned hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians who sought refuge in southern Gaza not to return to the northern half of the territory, where Israel's army has suspended its ground offensive.
Several witnesses also reported seeing Israeli troops firing on people heading north.
Separately, Israeli forces shot and killed a 12-year-old Palestinian boy in the West Bank, Palestinian health officials said Friday. Violence has surged in the territory as the Israel-Hamas war broke out in Gaza.
The boy was killed Thursday in the village of Beita near the flashpoint city of Nablus in the northern West Bank, the officials said.
The Israeli military said the Palestinians threw stones at the soldiers as they entered the village and that the troops responded with live fire, the Associated Press reported.
