Good morning Middle East Eye readers, 

Israeli forces carried out widespread air, artillery and naval attacks across the Gaza Strip on Saturday, largely in areas meant to be under Israeli control under the ceasefire agreement.

Naval forces fired shells and machine-gun rounds off the coast of Gaza City, close to tents sheltering displaced people.

In central Gaza, Israeli artillery and helicopter gunfire targeted Palestinian homes.

On Friday, Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian in the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, as daily violations of the ceasefire continued.

Hundreds of violations have been reported since the ceasefire came into effect in October, with at least 410 Palestinians killed and 1,134 wounded.

The ceasefire was intended to bring an end to a two-year genocidal war on Gaza, during which Israel killed around 70,000 Palestinians and destroyed nearly 90 percent of the Strip’s infrastructure.

Municipalities in northern Gaza say Israeli forces have turned the area into a disaster zone by continuing to block the entry of water, fuel, spare parts and reconstruction materials, deepening the collapse of basic services and the humanitarian crisis.

They report widespread destruction, including more than 150 kilometres of roads, 70 main water wells and treatment plants, all privately owned electricity generators, and 50,000 dunams of farmland.

Officials warn that fuel shortages, a lack of maintenance materials and the build-up of thousands of tonnes of waste are driving the spread of disease and posing a serious threat to public health.

The death toll from Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza has risen to 71,266, the Palestinian health ministry reported on Saturday.

In the past 48 hours, four people were killed by Israeli fire, while the bodies of 25 others were recovered and taken to hospitals.

Since the ceasefire in October, at least 414 people have been killed by Israeli fire, the ministry added.

Hamas strongly condemned the mutual recognition between the breakaway region of Somaliland and Israel.

The Palestinian movement criticised Somaliland for setting a dangerous precedent in an attempt to gain “false legitimacy” from what it described as an occupying, war-criminal state.

It also rejected Israeli plans to forcibly displace Palestinians, including proposals to use Somaliland as a destination for people from Gaza, and praised Arab and Islamic countries that condemned the move.

Hamas added that Israel’s decision to recognise the sovereignty of the breakaway region in East Africa reflects “the deep international isolation of the Israeli regime, resulting from the acts of genocide it has committed against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip”.