Israel fires tank shell at Hamas post after ceasefire deal

A day after a truce deal was reached between Israel and Hamas to stop continuous shelling, Israeli military forces on Saturday fired a tank shell at Hamas post in the Gaza Strip.

In a statement, the forces said that the shelling was carried out after suspected Palestinian militants infiltrated a security fence at the Gaza border, Anadolu News Agency reported.
The shelling also targeted an observation tower in the eastern Gaza Strip, according to local residents.

However, there are no reports of casualties so far.
Earlier on late Friday, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum had taken to his Twitter handle and announced the ceasefire, "With Egyptian and UN efforts, [an agreement] was reached to return to the previous situation of a ceasefire between the occupation and Palestinian factions."

Hamas is the Palestinian Islamic militant group that controls Gaza and has been waging a war with Israel since its founding in 1987.

On late Friday evening, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) had announced that their soldier was killed after being shot at in the Gaza Strip, The Times of Israel reported.

"Today, an IDF combat soldier was killed during operational activity near the southern Gaza Strip. During the incident, a terrorist squad shot at IDF troops and the IDF soldier was severely injured. He later succumbed to his wounds," it had said in a statement.
Following this, the Israeli air force had launched airstrikes at Hamas targets across the Gaza Strip.

The Palestinian health ministry had previously stated that four of its nationals were killed by Israeli forces near the Gaza-Israel buffer zone on Friday. The four Palestinians were killed in two separate incidents, as per the report.

Since March 30, Israeli forces have killed over 150 Palestinians and wounded more than 13,000 people.

The Palestinians are also demanding an end to Israel's 11-year blockade of the Gaza Strip, which has affected nearly two million people from getting access to basic needs.

(ANI)