Israel kills 4 suspected militants in Gaza’s Rafah despite ceasefire

Israel’s military said it killed four suspected militants who attacked its troops as the armed men emerged from a tunnel in southern Gaza on Monday, calling the group’s actions a “blatant violation” of the ceasefire.Despite a US-brokered truce entering its second phase last month, violence has continued in the Gaza Strip, with Israel and Hamas accusing each other of breaching the agreement.“A short while ago, four armed terrorists exited an underground tunnel shaft and fired towards soldiers in the Rafah area in the southern Gaza Strip … Following identification, the troops eliminated the terrorists,” the military said in a statement.It said none of its troops had been injured in the attack, which it called a “blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement” between Israel and Hamas.Israeli troops “are continuing to operate in the area to locate and eliminate all the terrorists within the underground tunnel route,” the military added.Gaza health officials have said Israeli air strikes last Wednesday killed 24 people, with Israel’s military saying the attacks were in response to one of its officers being wounded by enemy gunfire.That wave of strikes came after Israel partly reopened the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt on February 2, the only gateway to the Palestinian territory that does not pass through Israel.