A Palestinian woman and a young girl were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza, officials say

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DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — A Palestinian woman and a young girl were killed in an Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza on Monday, hospital authorities said.

The strike hit a tent sheltering a displaced family in the area of Muwasi, on the western side of Khan Younis, according to the Kuwait field hospital, which received the casualties. The hospital said another girl was wounded.

The military said it had struck a militant, but gave no further details.

The fatalities were the latest among Palestinians in the coastal enclave since an October ceasefire deal attempted to halt a more than two-year war between Israel and the Palestinian militant Hamas group in Gaza. While the heaviest fighting has subsided, the shaky ceasefire has seen almost daily Israeli fire.

Israeli forces have carried out repeated airstrikes and frequently fire on Palestinians near military-held zones, killing more than 880 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

The ministry, which is part of the Hamas-led government, is generally seen as reliable by United Nations agencies and independent experts. But it does not give a breakdown of civilian and militant deaths.

Militants have carried out shooting attacks on troops, and Israel says its strikes are in response to violations of the truce or threats to its troops. Four Israeli soldiers have been killed since the ceasefire.