Canadian civilian killed in clash with Israeli security forces near Gaza border

Israeli police say a Canadian citizen has been killed after threatening Israeli security forces with a knife near the Gaza border.

The Israeli military said the man drove to the entrance of an Israeli town near the Gaza border, got out of his vehicle and began threatening security forces with a knife. The forces opened fire, killing the man.

There were no other injuries.

The attack took place at the entrance to the Israeli town of Netiv HaAsara, which is just 300 meters north of the Gaza border. Israel has seen a wave of stabbings across the country during the nine-month war in Gaza.

The war in Gaza has killed more than 38,900 people, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between fighters and civilians in its count. The war began with a Hamas-led assault on southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people, most of them civilians, including several Canadian citizens.

More than 100 hostages captured on October 7 were freed during a lull in fighting late last year. Several others were rescued during Israeli military operations.

The Israeli government believes that another 116 hostages have been repatriated, although about a third of them have been declared dead in absentia.

The Israeli military announced on Monday the deaths of two more Israeli hostages. According to the military, Yagev Buchshtab, 35, and Alex Dancyg, 76, who were abducted from kibbutz homes on October 7, are no longer alive, according to intelligence.

Another evacuation order

The precarious humanitarian conditions in besieged Gaza have worsened following the discovery of the polio virus, as water and sanitation services for the territory’s 2.3 million residents, most of whom are internally displaced, have deteriorated. Traces of the virus have been found in sewage samples in Gaza.

The Israeli military on Monday ordered the evacuation of part of an area in the Gaza Strip that it has designated as a humanitarian zone. The army said it plans to launch an operation against Hamas militants who have entrenched themselves in the area and used it to fire rockets into Israel.

The area includes the eastern portion of the Muwasi humanitarian zone, which is located in the southern Gaza Strip. Many Palestinians have been uprooted multiple times in search of safety during Israel’s punishing air and ground campaign.