Israeli airstrikes and gunfire kill six in Gaza, including a child and two women

CAIRO, June 20 (Reuters) — At least six Palestinians, including a child and two women, were killed on Saturday by Israeli airstrikes and gunfire in separate incidents across the Gaza Strip, according to local health officials and medics.

The deadliest attack struck an apartment building in Gaza City's Sabra neighborhood, where an Israeli airstrike killed four people — two women, a child and a man — and wounded several others, medics said. The Israeli military acknowledged carrying out the strike, describing the target as a militant, but provided no further details.

In a separate incident earlier in the day, Israeli forces shot and killed a woman in the northern town of Beit Lahiya, medics reported. Later, another airstrike in Khan Younis, in the southern part of the enclave, killed at least one person and wounded eight, bringing Saturday's death toll to six.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the Beit Lahiya shooting or the Khan Younis strike.

Despite a ceasefire agreement reached in October that halted major hostilities between Israel and Hamas, the truce has failed to stop Israeli attacks or militant provocations entirely. Gaza’s health ministry says more than 1,010 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the ceasefire took effect, while four Israeli soldiers have been killed by militants in Gaza over the same period.

Israel maintains that its operations are aimed at thwarting imminent attacks by Hamas and other armed groups. Hamas rarely discloses the deaths of its fighters, making independent verification difficult. The two sides remain deadlocked over the next phase of the U.S.-backed truce plan, which calls for Hamas to disarm and for a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza — conditions neither party has fully embraced.

The latest violence underscores the persistent volatility on the ground and the challenge of advancing a lasting political resolution in the conflict-ravaged territory.