REUTERS, Cairo

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

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.

The ceasefire 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.

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.

More than $71 billion will be needed over the next decade for recovery and reconstruction in war-ravaged Gaza, according to an EU-UN assessment published yesterday.

After more than two years of Israel’s war in the Palestinian territory, “recovery and reconstruction needs are estimated at around $71.4 billion”, said the final Gaza Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment developed by the United Nations and the European Union, in coordination with the World Bank.