Israeli strikes kill 4 in Gaza, including 2 children, as ceasefire strains grow
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli airstrikes and tank fire killed at least four Palestinians in Gaza on Monday, including two children, hospital officials said, deepening fears that the fragile ceasefire is unraveling just one week after a U.S. delegation privately urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reduce attacks.
In the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, a strike flattened part of a building after the Israeli military issued evacuation warnings. One family did not make it out in time. According to Awda Hospital, a 4-year-old boy was killed; his mother and sister were wounded. The Israeli military did not comment on that strike.
Elsewhere, residents said warnings preceded strikes on at least three other buildings. Families scrambled through the streets — mothers clutching children, older people navigating piles of rubble in wheelchairs or using canes. Smoke hung over sections of the territory that have already been reduced to concrete skeletons.
Israel's military said its forces struck what it described as two Hamas weapons storage facilities hidden inside mosques in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City and in Deir al-Balah. It provided no visual evidence but released a statement saying the sites held dozens of "Kalashnikov rifles, magazines and additional military equipment."
In Deir al-Balah, a separate strike on a tent killed a man, according to Al-Aqsa Hospital. The military identified him as a militant affiliated with Hamas' special forces unit. Another man died and five people were wounded in an Israeli strike in Khan Younis, according to Nasser Hospital. Tank fire east of Khan Younis killed a 10-year-old girl, the same hospital said, adding that its staff received her body. The military said it was not aware of the child's death and did not immediately respond on the Khan Younis strike.
The latest deaths came after a week in which Israel announced strikes on six of seven days. That offensive tempo has tested the limits of the ceasefire that took hold in October, raising questions about whether the truce can move to the next phase: demilitarization, reconstruction and the deployment of an international stabilization force.
Netanyahu met with U.S. negotiator Jared Kushner a week ago, and a person familiar with the meeting said Kushner asked Israel to draw down its attacks in Gaza. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief journalists. The Israeli government has not publicly acknowledged any such request.
Gaza's health ministry, part of the Hamas-run government, says Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 1,288 Palestinians since the ceasefire began. Its casualty records are widely regarded by U.N. agencies and independent experts as generally reliable, though it does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Israel has framed its strikes as a response to militant attacks on its troops and other ceasefire violations. Palestinian officials counter that the raids are designed to keep Gaza destabilized and derail progress on a permanent end to the war. Hamas has accused Israel of using the threat of renewed fighting to reset the terms of the deal.
The friction extends beyond military operations. Israeli officials have expressed alarm after several kites were found in a kibbutz near Gaza, though none carried weapons or hazardous materials. Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz warned Sunday that Israel would intensify strikes unless Hamas ensures kites stop flying across the border.
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem dismissed the warnings, calling the kites "essentially children's toys" and accusing Israel of inventing a pretext "to justify the continuation of aggression and violations against our people."
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages. All hostages or their remains were eventually released. Israel's military campaign in Gaza has killed more than 73,422 Palestinians, according to the territory's health ministry.
The latest deaths are likely to heighten international pressure on both sides to honor the ceasefire terms. But with diplomats still negotiating the details of the next phase, the ground inside Gaza is again shifting — and the already thin margin for civilian life is shrinking further.