Drone strike kills three in Gaza as Hamas prepares to transfer governance

An Israeli drone strike killed three Palestinians who had crossed the ceasefire line near central Gaza’s Morag corridor, hospital officials said.

Israel’s military said the three approached troops and posed an immediate threat. They said they later found weapons and intelligence-gathering equipment on them.

Monday’s strike came as Gaza awaits an expected announcement this week of a “board of peace” to oversee its governance.

Hamas has said it will dissolve its existing government once the new committee takes over the territory, as mandated under the US-brokered peace plan.

The Gaza health ministry reports that more than 440 people have been killed since Israel and Hamas agreed last October to suspend their two-year war.

Since then, each side has accused the other of violating the ceasefire, which remains in its initial stage as efforts continue to recover the remains of the final Israeli hostage in Gaza.

Israel’s military controls a buffer zone that covers more than half of Gaza, while the Hamas-run government retains authority over the rest.

Throughout the war, Israel has supported anti-Hamas groups, including an armed group in southern Gaza that claimed responsibility on Monday for the killing of a senior Hamas police officer in Khan Younis.

Lieutenant Colonel Mahmoud al-Astal was gunned down in the Muwasi area, the Hamas-run interior ministry said in a statement.

Hamas spokesperson Hazem Kassem, in a post on Telegram on Sunday, called for a speeding up of the establishment of the Palestinian technocratic committee set to govern Gaza.

Hamas and the rival Palestinian Authority have not announced the names of who will sit on the committee and it remains unclear if they will be cleared by Israel and the US.

Officials say that US president Donald Trump will announce his appointments to the board of peace in the coming days.

Under Mr Trump’s plan, the board would supervise the new Palestinian government, the disarmament of Hamas, the deployment of an international security force, additional pullbacks of Israeli troops and reconstruction.

The US has reported little progress on any of these fronts so far.