Israeli Strikes Kill At Least 8 in Gaza, Including Two Children

Israeli strikes in Gaza on Monday killed at least eight people, including two children, and wounded at least 20 others, according to health officials and emergency services, with one strike hitting a tent in the Al-Mawasi neighborhood after a warning call in Khan Younis.

In central Gaza, a drone strike hit a tent in Deir al-Balah, killing at least three Palestinians including an 8-year-old boy and his grandfather, medical officials said, and Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital identified the fatalities as Hassan al-Hanagra and Malik Abu Shawish.

Al-Jazeera Net

The same reporting said Israel’s military stated the strike was targeting a militant but did not immediately name him or say if he was killed, while the Gaza Health Ministry maintained detailed casualty records seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts.

In the occupied West Bank, Israeli forces raided locations near Ramallah, where the Palestinian Health Ministry reported a 15-year-old from Jerusalem was killed by a gunshot to the head, and emergency crews transported Amir Jaber from the al-Bireh area after attempting to resuscitate him.

The broader toll described in the reports said Israeli forces have carried out near-daily strikes, killing 1,045 Palestinians, including more than 360 women and children, since the ceasefire took hold in October, and that Israel’s campaign has killed more than 73,058 Palestinians including those killed since the ceasefire.

Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital said the drone strike in Deir al-Balah killed Hassan al-Hanagra and his 8-year-old grandchild, Malik Abu Shawish, along with another man, and the reporting described Abu Shawish visiting his mother’s tent when the strike happened.

A separate account said Israel’s military identified the target as Zaher Abu Salem, who it said was a member of Islamic Jihad and was involved in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel that triggered the war, while the Israeli military said it was targeting a militant in the Deir al-Balah incident without naming him.

Al-Jazeera Net

The Reuters-based reporting also said Hamas has accused Israel of violating the ceasefire, while Nikolay Mladenov, the U.S. President Donald Trump-appointed Board of Peace envoy to Gaza, has said both parties have violated the agreement.

In the West Bank, the same set of reports said the Israeli military did not comment immediately on the raid near Ramallah, and that the raid was among half a dozen reported across the territory Monday by WAFA.

The casualty figures in the reports were framed as coming from both sides, with one passage stating that since the ceasefire took effect eight months ago, 1,045 Palestinians and four Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza, according to figures from each side.

The reports tied Monday’s strikes to a ceasefire that has officially been in effect since October, while still describing near-daily Israeli strikes that have continued to kill people across Gaza.

“Gaza health officials said on Monday that an Israeli drone strike killed three civilians, including a child, the latest violence to hit the Palestinian territory despite a ceasefire”

Asharq Al-Awsat English

One Reuters-based account said an Israeli airstrike killed three Palestinians, including a child, in central Gaza on Monday, and it noted that the Gazan health ministry said an Israeli strike occurred around 9:30 a.m. (0630 GMT) in Deir al Balah city in central Gaza.

The same reporting said the Gaza Health Ministry does not give a breakdown of civilians and militants, and that Hamas does not disclose its fatality figures, even as the Gaza Health Ministry’s records are described as seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts.

In the wider conflict context, the reports said the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack on Israel killed some 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage, and that Israel says it is targeting militants often saying they were planning attacks on Israeli troops who hold more than 60% of the Gaza Strip.

Finally, the reports described the stakes for the ceasefire framework itself, saying the agreement called for a broad flow of humanitarian aid and that Tom Fletcher, head of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, told the Security Council that essential services are “on the brink of collapse.”