By AFP
GAZA CITY: A Gazan child died on Wednesday from wounds sustained in four-days of Israeli-Palestinian violence, but a truce deal appeared to be holding, despite more rocket fire and two Israeli raids.
Gaza emergency services spokesman Adham Abu Selmiya said Baraka Al-Mughrabi, 7, died from severe injuries sustained during an Israeli bombing raid on Gaza City on Saturday.
The boy’s death, which raised to 26 the number of Palestinians killed in four days of bloodshed, came 24 hours after Israel and militant groups in Gaza agreed to observe a ceasefire deal in a bid to end the
confrontation, which saw more than 200 rockets fired at Israel.
The truce came into effect early on Tuesday, and although there were no major incidents, it appeared less than watertight, with several instances of firing and two Israeli raids overnight.
Throughout Tuesday, militant groups fired eight rockets and mortars across the border, one of which hit a residential area and lightly injured an Israeli, the army said.
Several hours later, Israeli warplanes struck targets in northern Gaza.
Palestinian security sources confirmed only one raid, saying it struck a wood yard in northern Gaza City, setting the structure alight but without causing injuries.
But a statement by the Israeli army said it had targeted “two terror activity sites in the northern Gaza Strip” in response to Tuesday’s rocket fire.
“The targeting of these sites is in response to the rockets fired at Israel over the past day,” it said.
Under the terms of the truce agreement, both Israel and insurgents from Islamic Jihad, who were responsible for most of the rocket attacks, had agreed to hold their fire.
But there was no indication that either side saw the rocket fire, or the subsequent raids, as putting an end to the Egyptian-brokered agreement.
The fighting erupted on Friday when Israel assassinated a militant leader, prompting armed groups to launch a barrage of rockets across the border, injuring five people.
In response, Israel staged multiple air strikes across Gaza, targeting weapons storage and manufacturing facilities, as well as small groups of insurgents poised to fire rockets over the border.
