Gaza City, November 24 (RHC)-- There were reports of "intense shooting" by Israeli forces east of Khan Younis and Rafah after a four-day ceasefire went into effect on Friday morning. Al-Jazeera reported that two Palestinians were killed and another was wounded by Israeli soldiers shooting at hundreds of people who tried to return to the north of the besieged Gaza Strip.
Some of those wounded have been evacuated to a hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa.
The Israeli military also warned Palestinians that the "war is not over" -- telling them not to try to return to homes in the northern part of Gaza, which it described as a "dangerous war zone."
Gaza residents said the Israelis had dropped leaflets warning people not to travel north and have fired over the heads of some people who were trying to get back into Gaza City. Israeli attacks had raged in the hours leading up to the truce, with officials inside the enclave saying a hospital in Gaza City was among the targets bombed.
Sirens sounded in two Israeli villages outside the southern Gaza Strip, warning of possible incoming Palestinian rockets. The Israeli military also said fighting would resume soon.
"This will be a short pause, at the conclusion of which the war and fighting will continue with great might and will generate pressure for the return of more hostages," Israeli minister of military affairs Yoav Gallant said.
Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross in Israel and the Occupied Territories confirmed the death of one of its aid workers who had worked for more than 20 years for them. "We are devastated by the killing of our valued colleague Abdellatif Ali Moussa, along with several of his family, in northern Gaza," they said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Israel launched the war on Gaza after Hamas launched Operation al-Aqsa Storm inside the occupied territories on October 7th.
At least 14,854 Palestinians, including more than 6,150 children and 4,000 women, have been killed and over 36,000 others injured in the Israeli strikes.
Some 207 health workers and 65 Palestinians are among those killed, while 7,000 Palestinians are still missing. According to the report, 60 percent of homes in Gaza have either been destroyed or damaged due to the aggression.