Israeli forces keep advancing further into western Gaza, slowly expanding the area of their control in the east.

Israeli attacks have killed at least four Palestinians across the Gaza Strip, according to medics and local health officials, despite a “ceasefire” agreed last October.

Medics said one person was killed in an air attack near the central village of al-Mughraq, while two others were killed by gunfire and shelling near Gaza City. In southern Gaza, health officials said Israeli forces shot a 40-year-old woman dead in Khan Younis.

This comes after the Israeli military claimed, without providing evidence, that its forces had killed several Hamas fighters in Gaza since Friday.

Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary, reporting from Gaza City, said three Palestinians were shot by a quadcopter drone near the al-Kuwait roundabout and close to the so-called Netzarim Corridor, an area dividing northern and southern Gaza.

“There have also been daily violations and breaches against people here – daily air strikes, drones constantly buzzing in the sky, and the yellow blocks are advancing further into the Gaza Strip,” she said, referring to markers delineating the area controlled by the Israeli army.

Her comments came as Israeli forces continued expanding the “Yellow Line”, where Israel has partitioned Palestinian territory into separate zones. An eastern area covering about 60 percent of the enclave is under Israeli military control, while Palestinians, most of them displaced, have been crowded into the remaining western areas.

“This means more people are going to be shot. Whoever crosses these yellow blocks is being shot and killed, restricting freedom of movement.”

Food, medicine shortages

Khoudary said shortages of food and medicine remained severe amid Israel’s blockade on aid entering the Strip.

“Normal medications are not available, so people suffering from cancer or diabetes are struggling to secure treatment,” she said. “When the ceasefire started, it was meant to be 600 trucks a day, but what is entering is only around 150 to 190 trucks. People here are saying they don’t have food.”

At least 800 Palestinians have been killed since the “ceasefire” took effect, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. Israel says Palestinian fighters have killed four of its soldiers during the period.

More than 72,500 Palestinians have been killed since Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza began in October 2023, most of them civilians, according to Gaza’s health authorities.