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Police HQ strike
On Wednesday, the Israeli army killed at least 10 Gazans and wounded another 20 in two attacks on the center of the Strip, including a strike on the main headquarters of the municipal police in the northern city of Gaza, according to medical and police sources cited by ABC.
“killed at least 10 Gazans and wounded another 20”
Al Jazeera reported that an Israeli strike on Gaza City’s police headquarters killed the women’s police chief, several officers, and a 13-year-old girl, and said the attack came two days after US envoy Jared Kushner ended a trip to the region that failed to push forward the Gaza ‘ceasefire’.
Gaza health officials and Al-Shifa Hospital reported nine bodies, including a woman and a girl, and at least 20 wounded after the strike on the municipal police headquarters, while the Israeli military said it targeted a Hamas commander and another further south, according to Asharq Al-Awsat English.
The same day, Anadolu Ajansı said at least nine Palestinians, including police officers and children, were killed and more than 15 others injured when an Israeli airstrike hit a police station in central Gaza City, and it said the latest deaths brought the number of Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip on Wednesday to 10 after another Palestinian was killed in a strike on a motorcycle in the Nuseirat refugee camp.
In the background of the escalating attacks, Al-Jazirah Net said Israeli airstrikes left 17 martyrs in less than 24 hours after Kushner met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv, and it said the Gaza Ministry of Interior announced the martyrdom of eight of its officers and a displaced girl due to a strike on a police headquarters in Gaza City.
Competing claims and condemnation
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem condemned what he called Israel's "complete disregard for all calls for a ceasefire" and said US President Donald Trump's Board of Peace "bears responsibility for this escalation" for failing to pressure Israel to abide by its commitments, according to Asharq Al-Awsat English.
In response to the strike on the police headquarters, the Israeli military said it targeted a Hamas commander and added that "steps were taken to mitigate harm to civilians, including the use of precise munitions and aerial surveillance," as quoted by Asharq Al-Awsat English.
Al Jazeera’s account of the police headquarters strike emphasized the deaths of the women’s police chief and a 13-year-old girl, while Anadolu Ajansı said the Gaza Interior and National Security Ministry accused Israel of seeking to "disable the police force to spread chaos within Palestinian society" and rejected Israel’s claims used to justify the attack.
Separately, Anadolu Ajansı reported that German Chancellor Friedrich Merz “strongly” condemned Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s call to kill Palestinians in Gaza without exception, describing it as an “inhumane and internationally unlawful” call that is unacceptable.
Anadolu Ajansı also quoted Ben Gvir’s podcast remarks, including his call that Palestinians “must not live,” and it said Merz’s office, via government spokesperson Steffen Seibert, tied the condemnation to European Council measures against extreme politicians who advocate acts that violate human dignity and international law.
What comes next
The sources tied the attacks to stalled diplomacy after Kushner’s visit, with Al-Jazirah Net saying Kushner had met Benjamin Netanyahu and that the Israeli army intensified strikes after the meeting did not yield a breakthrough obliging Israel to implement the roadmap approved by Hamas.
“failed to push forward the Gaza ‘ceasefire’”
Al Jazeera said the police headquarters attack came two days after Kushner ended a trip that failed to push forward the Gaza ‘ceasefire’, while Arab News said the airstrike on the police station occurred two days after Kushner ended a trip that failed to push forward Donald Trump’s plan to end the war in the enclave.
Arab News reported that Hamas told ceasefire mediators, Egypt, Qatar and Turkiye that if there was no halt to Israel’s targeted attacks “it would influence their stance on the agreement,” and it said the Israeli military had not commented on the strike on the police station.
Anadolu Ajansı provided a broader tally tied to the ceasefire’s implementation, saying Gaza Health Ministry figures reported that Israeli violations of the ceasefire have killed 1,273 Palestinians and injured more than 4,000 since last October when the ceasefire agreement went into effect.
In parallel, Asharq Al-Awsat English described how Gaza health officials said Tuesday that an Israeli airstrike killed six people in the port of Gaza City, while it also reported that the Israeli military claimed it targeted several Hamas commanders, underscoring that the sources portray continued strikes as the immediate risk to civilians and police personnel.
