Israel is using the ceasefire in Gaza to cement its grip on the territory

The target of the attack appeared to have been a local Hamas battalion commander Imad Asleem, who was killed alongside his teenage daughter Israa and buried on Thursday.

At least nine people were killed and dozens of others were injured in a number of Israeli airstrikes that targeted residential buildings, and crowded market places across the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, as Palestinians in the besieged enclave have incurred yet another bloody Eid holiday for the sixth time in a row at the hands of the Israeli military.

Over the past two weeks, Israel’s military has killed both the leader of Hamas’ military wing and his replacement — the latest in a long string of targeted killings aimed at senior militants.

Israel’s government has promoted the prospect of Gaza without Palestinians since Trump suggested early last year that hundreds of thousands of people should leave to “clean out” the strip for reconstruction.