Israeli strikes in Gaza kill eight as ceasefire violence continues

Medics and the Hamas-run interior ministry said Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip killed eight people in two separate attacks on Sunday, local time. Five police officers were killed in western Khan Younis in the south, while three people died in Gaza City. Local hospitals said they received the bodies and several wounded people after the strikes.

The Israeli military said it struck several militants in Khan Younis, but did not immediately provide further details. It did not comment on the Gaza City strike in the material supplied. The reported deaths come as Israel has stepped up strikes in recent weeks, accusing Hamas of violating the ceasefire and rearming, while Hamas denies those claims and says Israel is undermining the agreement.

The killing of police officers is significant because local authorities describe them as part of efforts to maintain order in areas damaged by the war. The wider ceasefire arrangement, brokered last year, was meant to halt the fighting and open the way to reconstruction, but little progress has been made on the main sticking points. Those include Hamas disarmament and the withdrawal of Israeli troops, who control about two-thirds of the territory according to the supplied report.

The latest strikes also underline the continuing fragility of the situation in Gaza, where most of the more than 2 million residents are living in the remaining third of the enclave among war ruins, often in makeshift tents and damaged buildings. The supplied material says at least 1,500 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since the ceasefire, while Israel says four soldiers have been killed. Palestinian authorities say more than 74,000 people have been killed in Israel's assault on Gaza since the war began after the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023.

What remains unclear is the full identity of those killed in the latest strikes, whether there were additional wounded, and whether the Israeli military will release more information about the targets it says were hit. It is also not clear whether the Gaza City strike caused further casualties beyond those already confirmed. Further updates are likely to focus on casualty verification and any response from the Israeli military or local authorities.

Hospital officials and local authorities in Gaza said Israeli strikes on Sunday killed at least eight people in separate attacks in the north and south of the territory. The incidents were reported in Gaza City and in the Al-Mawasi area west of Khan Younis, despite the ceasefire that has been in place since October last year. Among those killed was a child, according to the hospital account from Gaza City.

In the north, hospital officials said a missile strike hit a group of civilians next to Cairo School in the Al-Rimal neighbourhood of Gaza City, killing three people. In the south, the Hamas-run ministry of interior said a drone strike hit a group of police officers in Al-Mawasi as they were carrying out routine duties, killing five. The ministry named the five officers and said they were aged between 23 and 53, while describing the attack as a horrific massacre.

The Israeli military said it had carried out two attacks on what it described as military operatives, but it has not yet provided evidence or further details. The latest deaths add to the continuing toll of strikes in Gaza even after the ceasefire agreement, which was meant to halt the war that began with the Hamas-led attack on Israel on 7 October 2023. According to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry, 74,594 people have been killed in the territory since the war began, while 1,580 people have been killed since the ceasefire took effect.

The reported killing of police officers is significant because local authorities say they are involved in maintaining order and supporting recovery efforts in areas damaged by the war. The strikes also come as a peace plan for Gaza, brokered by the Trump administration, has stalled. That broader diplomatic context has left the ceasefire fragile, with Israeli air strikes continuing almost every day according to the supporting report.

The latest incident also reflects the wider pattern of violence that has continued since the ceasefire began, with both northern and southern Gaza affected. The supporting material says thousands of Palestinians were released by Israel in exchange for the remaining hostages held in Gaza as part of the ceasefire arrangement. It also notes that the war has left Gaza's health system and civil administration under severe strain, making verification of casualties and the roles of those killed more difficult.

What remains unclear is the full identity of everyone killed in the latest strikes, whether there were additional wounded, and whether the Israeli military will release more information about the targets it says were hit. It is also not clear whether the strike near Cairo School caused further casualties beyond those already confirmed. Further updates are likely to focus on casualty verification, any response from the Israeli military, and whether the attacks affect already fragile conditions on the ground.

At least eight Palestinians were killed in Israeli drone attacks across the Gaza Strip on Sunday, according to hospital sources and local officials. The strikes were reported in both southern and northern Gaza, with casualties in al-Mawasi, west of Khan Younis, and in Gaza City's Rimal neighbourhood. Among the dead was a four-year-old boy, according to sources at al-Shifa Hospital.

In al-Mawasi, five people were killed and several others wounded when a drone strike hit the area, hospital sources said. Gaza's Ministry of Interior said the people targeted there were police officers carrying out their duties. The Israeli military said it was targeting "a terrorist" in southern Gaza, according to a statement relayed to the AFP news agency.

In Gaza City, at least three people were killed in a separate drone attack, and the Taj Mall was also struck. Another person died on Sunday from wounds sustained in an earlier attack, bringing the confirmed death toll in the latest incidents to at least eight. Hamas condemned the strikes as a deliberate war crime and said the attack on police officers was intended to obstruct recovery efforts and sow chaos.

The group also denounced what it called the bombardment of Gaza City, saying civilians were killed and wounded in the assault. The latest deaths add to the continuing toll of the war in Gaza and underline how strikes remain concentrated in both the south and north of the territory. The reported targeting of police officers is significant because local authorities have described them as part of efforts to maintain order and support recovery work.

The strikes also come amid continuing Israeli military operations despite a US-brokered ceasefire that took effect last October, according to the supporting report. The incident fits into a wider conflict that has continued since the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel in October 2023. The Gaza Ministry of Health says more than 74,594 Palestinians have been killed since the war began, while the supporting report says more than 1,500 people have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire took effect.

Those figures could not be independently verified in the supplied material, but they indicate the scale of the continuing violence. What remains unclear is the full identity of those killed in the latest strikes, the condition of the wounded, and whether the Israeli military will provide further detail on the targets it says were hit. It is also not clear whether the Taj Mall strike caused additional casualties beyond those already confirmed.

Further updates are likely to focus on casualty verification, the response from local authorities, and whether the attacks affect already fragile conditions on the ground.

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