• Bombardment in Central Gaza, Rimal claims 21 lives

• Drone attack on Lebanon leaves one dead, five hurt

• Canadian PM, UAE president back comprehensive Palestinian peace plan

• Hamas says ‘escalating violations’ place a responsibility on mediators and US

CAIRO: Israel continued its deadly assault blatantly violating ceasefire agreements on two fronts with airstrikes on Saturday that killed at least 21 people in Gaza and one in southern Lebanon, despite assurances from Palestinian resistance groups that they remain fully committed to the accord.

Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip killed at least 21 people and wounded several others, local health authorities said, posing a further test to the six-week-old ceasefire.

Witnesses and medics said the initial attack struck a car in the densely populated Rimal neighbourhood, setting it ablaze. It was not immediately clear whether the five dead were passengers in the vehicle or included passersby. Dozens of people rushed to extinguish the fire and rescue the victims.

Shortly after the attack on the car, the Israeli air force carried out two separate airstrikes on houses in Deir Al-Balah city and Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip, killing at least four people and wounding several others, medics said.

The Israeli military claimed a gunman had exploited the “humanitarian road in the area through which humanitarian aid enters southern Gaza” to cross into Israeli-held territory. The military said it was striking targets in Gaza in response.

A Hamas official in Gaza rejected the Israeli military’s allegations as baseless and an “excuse to kill”, insisting the group was committed to the ceasefire agreement.

Hamas said in a statement earlier on Saturday that Israel’s “escalating violations” place a responsibility on mediators and the US to confront the aggression and preserve the ceasefire.

While the October 10 ceasefire in the Gaza war has eased the conflict — enabling hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to return to Gaza’s ruins and increasing aid flows — violence has not completely halted.

Palestinian health authorities say Israeli forces have killed 316 people in strikes in Gaza while Israel says three of its soldiers have been killed since the ceasefire began since the truce began. Some observers are concerned Israel is seeking to reassert itself.

Attacks in Lebanon

Violations also continued on another front, where an Israeli strike in southern Lebanon killed one person on Saturday, Lebanon’s health ministry said. The death occurred in the latest attack despite a nearly year-long ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

In a statement, the ministry attributed the death to “an Israeli enemy strike” on a vehicle in Zawtar al-Sharqiyah. The National News Agency identified the man killed as Kamel Reda Qarnabash.

The ministry also reported that a grenade dropped by an Israeli drone in the southern town of Shaqra wounded five people.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the deadly incident in Zawtar al-Sharqiyah but claimed it struck “several Hezbollah launchers that were recently identified and placed in military sites in southern Lebanon”.

Lebanon has accused Israel of violating the ceasefire agreement reached in Nov 2024 by continuing its strikes and maintaining forces inside Lebanese territory. According to the health ministry, more than 330 people have been killed in Lebanon and 945 wounded since the ceasefire.

The attacks follow an Israeli strike Tuesday night on the Ain al-Hilweh camp for Palestinian refugees in southern Lebanon that killed 13 people.

A secondary school in the camp stated on its Facebook page Thursday that two of its students were killed in the attack, publishing an image of two adolescent boys.

Canadian PM, UAE president meet

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan met on Nov 20 in Abu Dhabi to advance bilateral ties and discuss Gaza peace plan, Canada’s government said on Saturday.

Regarding Gaza, the leaders reaffirmed a shared commitment to a “comprehensive, just and lasting peace” based on the two-state solution, leading to a sovereign, independent Palestinian state living side by side with Israel.

Both sides welcomed the leadership of US President Donald Trump and his “comprehensive peace plan” to end the war in Gaza, as well as the adoption of Resolution 2803 by the UN Security Council as a key instrument for implementation.

Published in Dawn, November 23rd, 2025