Israeli fire kills two in Gaza

Entrenches hold on south Lebanon

CAIRO/BEIRUT/JERUSALEM:

Israeli strikes killed at least two Palestinians in separate incidents in the Gaza Strip on Monday, health officials said, and fighters from Hamas clashed with gunmen from an Israeli-backed militia, witnesses said.

Israel told residents of south Lebanon to stay out of a belt of territory at the border and not to approach the area of the Litani River, entrenching its grip over southern Lebanon despite a ceasefire in the war with Hezbollah.

Medics said one man was killed in an Israeli airstrike in the Bureij camp in the central area of the enclave, while another strike killed one person and wounded others in Gaza City.

The two deaths were the latest violence to overshadow the US-brokered ceasefire deal signed in October after two years of full-blown war between Israel and Hamas. Progress on moving forward with parts of the deal, which include the disarmament of Hamas and Israeli army pullouts, has stalled.

The Israeli military didn't immediately comment on either incident.

The ceasefire that began last October left Israeli troops in control of a depopulated zone that makes up well over half of Gaza, with Hamas controlling the narrow coastal strip that remains.

More than 750 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire deal took effect, according to local medics, while Israel says militants have killed four of its soldiers. Israel and Hamas have traded blame for ceasefire violations.

Israel says it aims to thwart attacks by Hamas and other militant factions.

Also on Monday, residents and sources close to Hamas said members of an Israeli-backed militia operating in an area under Israeli control clashed with Palestinian fighters after crossing into a Hamas-run area east of Khan Younis.

As the militiamen tried to retreat, a Hamas fighter fired an anti-tank grenade towards their vehicle, some residents and a Hamas source said. An explosion was heard, but there was no word about casualties.

A video, verified by Reuters, showed gunmen apparently from the militia dressed in black uniforms and clutching AK assault rifles arriving at a Hamas-run area in eastern Khan Younis before shooting is heard.

Lebanon

The US-mediated, 10-day ceasefire took effect on Thursday, largely halting the war between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah that spiralled out of the conflict between the United States and Iran. But it remains fragile, with Israeli troops occupying territory deep in the south, aiming to create a buffer zone to shield northern Israel from Hezbollah attack, while the group says it maintains the "right to resist" Israeli occupation.

Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri told the pan-Arab Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that Washington was making an effort to extend the ceasefire agreed by the Israeli and Lebanese governments, after he met the US ambassador to Lebanon.

Following the highest level contacts in decades between Israel and Lebanon last week, a US State Department spokesperson said Washington would host a second round of ambassador-level talks between Lebanon and Israel on Thursday. Hezbollah strongly opposes the contacts.