DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — An Israeli drone strike Monday killed three Palestinians who had crossed the ceasefire line near central Gaza’s Morag corridor, hospital officials said.
Israel’s military said the three approached troops and posed an immediate threat, and it later found weapons and intelligence-gathering equipment on them, according to the report.
The strike came as Gaza awaited an expected announcement this week of a “Board of Peace” to oversee its governance, with plans described as part of a U.S.-brokered peace framework.
Hamas has said it will dissolve its existing government once the new committee takes over the territory, as mandated under the U.S.-brokered peace plan, the report said. It added that Hamas and the rival Palestinian Authority have not announced the names of those who will sit on the committee, and it remains unclear whether Israel and the U.S. will clear the members.
The report said the Gaza Health Ministry reported more than 440 deaths since Israel and Hamas agreed last October to suspend their two-year war. It said both sides have accused each other of violating the ceasefire, which remains in its initial stage, as efforts continue to recover the remains of the final Israeli hostage in Gaza.
It also described the governance and enforcement landscape as split: Israel’s military controls a buffer zone that covers more than half of Gaza, while the Hamas-run government retains authority over the rest.
Elsewhere Monday, the report said a senior Hamas police officer was killed in Khan Younis, and that a group Israel has supported in southern Gaza claimed responsibility. The Hamas-run Interior Ministry said Lt. Col. Mahmoud al-Astal was gunned down in the Muwasi area.
The report said Hamas spokesperson Hazem Kassem, in a post on Telegram on Sunday, called for speeding up the establishment of the Palestinian technocratic committee set to govern Gaza.
The report also said officials expect Donald Trump to announce his appointments to the Board of Peace in the coming days, and that under Trump’s plan the board would supervise the new Palestinian government, Hamas disarmament, the deployment of an international security force, additional pullbacks of Israeli troops and reconstruction. It said the U.S. has reported little progress on those fronts so far.
Turkish officials said Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan took part on Monday in a video conference with the U.S. and others to discuss “preparations for the second stage” of the ceasefire agreement. The report said the talks included officials from Egypt and Qatar and were held as a continuation of a meeting in Miami at the end of December.
In Gaza City, the report said dozens of Palestinians held a protest Monday demanding the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners still being held in Israeli prisons. It said the demonstration was organized by the Palestinian Prisoners Committee outside the building of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Separately, the report said groups that advocate for Palestinian prisoners said Israeli authorities confirmed the death of detainee Hamza Abdullah Abdelhadi Adwan. In a statement Sunday, the Prisoners’ Affairs Commission and the Palestinian Prisoner Society said Adwan died in prison on Sept. 9 based on information the family received from the Israeli military.
Israel’s military officials said Monday that its police force will investigate and send findings to the military prosecutor’s office for review. The report said Adwan, 67, had serious health problems, was detained at a checkpoint on Nov. 12, 2024, and that two of his children were killed in the Gaza war.
The report also cited the Prisoners’ Affairs Commission’s account that 87 Palestinian detainees have died in Israeli prisons since the start of the war, including 51 from Gaza, and that it said more than 100 detainees—some not yet identified—had died of torture, starvation, medical neglect and abuse.