Less than a week after the first phase of the ceasefire deal began, Gaza has once again been plunged into mourning. At least six Palestinians were killed within 24 hours after Israeli forces opened fire in several areas of the Strip, in what local residents and officials described as a clear violation of the truce.

Five of the victims were killed in Gaza City’s Shuja’iyya neighbourhood after approaching what Israel calls the “yellow line”, a boundary zone set during the ceasefire agreement. Witnesses said they were civilians inspecting their damaged homes when they were targeted by an Israeli drone. Another man was killed near Khan Younis, where Israeli troops reportedly struck a group of young men east of the city. Sporadic gunfire was also reported in al-Tahlia, alongside shelling in Jabalia in the north.

These renewed attacks come despite Israel’s public commitment to halt operations under the first stage of the deal intended to end over two years of genocidal war. The conflict and ensuing siege have already taken the lives of nearly 68,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, leaving Gaza’s landscape scarred by grief and destruction.

A spokesperson for the Palestinian resistance condemned the latest killings, urging international actors to monitor Israel’s actions and ensure that it does not evade its obligations under the ceasefire. For Gaza’s residents, however, such assurances ring hollow, each new dawn feels less like peace restored, and more like a truce already broken.