Israeli Strikes Kill At Least Eight Palestinians In Gaza, Medics Say

Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip on May 17 killed at least eight Palestinians, health officials and medics said, as ceasefire efforts to end fighting between Israel and Hamas faltered.

“A Gaza hospital says that an Israeli strike killed eight police officers despite the ceasefire”

Ahraminfo

Medics said an Israeli strike killed one Palestinian near a police post and another at a tent encampment in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, while another Israeli airstrike killed at least three people at a community kitchen near Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza area.

Ahraminfo

The Israeli military said it killed a militant who posed an immediate threat to forces in the area, and it said the community kitchen strike targeted a Hamas commander developing anti-tank missiles.

On May 16, the Israeli military said Izz al-Din al-Haddad, head of Hamas’ armed wing in Gaza, was killed in what it described as a precise strike on Gaza City on May 15, and Hamas confirmed his death without threatening revenge.

The Straits Times also reported that some 870 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes since the October ceasefire, while Reuters said four Israeli soldiers were killed during the same period.

Israel’s campaign continued after it said it had assassinated a senior Hamas member a day earlier, with the Israeli army killing four and injuring several others in airstrikes on Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah.

In Khan Younis, the body of the deceased and four other injured individuals arrived at the Nasser Hospital after an Israeli strike that targeted a gathering of Palestinians, medical sources told Turkish Anadolu Agency (AA), and an Israeli drone carried out at least one strike on the gathering, eyewitnesses said.

Al Jazeera

The attacks came after Israel said Izz al-Din al-Haddad was killed in a precise strike on Gaza City Friday, and Hamas confirmed that he was killed along with his wife and daughter, describing him as a central figure directing combat operations.

At Al Aqsa Martyrs Mosque in central Gaza, a joint funeral was held on Saturday for al-Haddad, his wife and their 19-year-old daughter, while Israel and Hamas remained deadlocked in indirect talks to advance U.S. President Donald Trump’s post-war plan for Gaza.

The Straits Times reported that Hamas stopped short of threatening revenge after confirming Haddad’s death, even as the two sides remained deadlocked in indirect talks to advance Trump’s plan to end more than two years of fighting with Hamas disarming as Israeli troops withdraw from Gaza.

Separate incidents in Gaza described additional deaths tied to Israeli strikes despite the ceasefire, including a hospital account that an Israeli strike killed eight police officers in the town of Al-Zawaida in the center of the territory.

“Israel continued killing Palestinians in Gaza on Sunday, after claiming to have assassinated a senior Hamas member a day earlier”

Daily Sabah

Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir el-Balah said "Eight martyrs were admitted" after an attack targeting a police vehicle in Al-Zawaida, and the Gaza Interior Ministry, led by Hamas, confirmed the toll and said the victims included Colonel Iyad Abou Yousdef.

Le Figaro reported that Gaza Civil Defense also reported four dead in another Israeli bombardment, and it said the Interior Ministry announced that "This attack resulted in the deaths of nine officers and staff" in a strike on a police vehicle in the central governorate.

The Israeli army told AFP it was "verifying" information about the two strikes, while Hamas and Gaza Civil Defense had previously announced four civilians, including a pregnant woman, killed in an Israeli strike on a house in the Nuseirat refugee camp.

The Straits Times also framed the broader context as Israel stepping up attacks in Gaza in the weeks since halting its joint bombing with the US in Iran, while Israeli troops remained in control of more than half the territory.