Nine Palestinians, including a 10-year-old boy and a senior Hamas police officer, were killed on Tuesday in an Israeli strike in Gaza, according to health officials and police authorities in the enclave.
The latest fatalities bring the number of Palestinians reported killed in Israeli attacks since the Israel-Hamas ceasefire took effect in October to more than 1,100, according to Gaza health officials.
Although the ceasefire halted large-scale fighting, clashes and airstrikes have continued. Four Israeli soldiers have also been killed by militants in Gaza during the same period.
In Jabalia, northern Gaza, an Israeli airstrike hit a Hamas-led police post, killing at least seven people, including a woman, and injuring several others, medics and police officials said.
The Hamas-led interior ministry identified one of the victims as Colonel Mohammad Marwan Salem, head of the Jabalia police force, along with other police officers.
According to police sources, Israel has intensified attacks on Hamas security personnel and police facilities since October, resulting in the deaths of dozens of officers.
Israel has maintained that Hamas must surrender control of Gaza and disarm. While Hamas has said it is prepared to relinquish political control of the territory, it has continued to reject demands to lay down its weapons.
In a separate incident in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, an Israeli airstrike killed a 36-year-old man and wounded three others, medics said. The Israeli military said it had targeted a Hamas militant.
The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the reported incidents in Jabalia or Rafah.
The renewed Israeli strike in Gaza comes as Hamas leaders are in Cairo for talks on implementing the second phase of U.S. President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan.
According to sources familiar with the negotiations, discussions are centred on Hamas’ disarmament and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.
However, the sources said little progress has been made in recent weeks toward reaching a comprehensive agreement to end the conflict.
Hamas has accused Israel of violating the ceasefire, arguing that the continued attacks have hindered the implementation of the second phase of the peace plan.
Nearly all of Gaza’s estimated two million residents have been displaced multiple times since the conflict began and are now living in makeshift shelters or damaged buildings across the territory.
The current conflict began after Hamas-led fighters killed about 1,200 people during the October 7, 2023, cross-border attack on Israel, according to Israeli figures. Gaza’s health ministry says more than 73,000 Palestinians have been killed in the territory since then.
