At least nine Palestinians, including a 10-year-old boy and a senior Hamas police officer, were killed by Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip today, according to health and police officials. The casualties add to the more than 1,100 Palestinians who, according to Gaza health authorities, have been killed by Israeli attacks since the October ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect.
Although the ceasefire has halted large-scale fighting, violent incidents have continued. During the same period, four Israeli soldiers have been killed by militants in Gaza.
According to doctors, 10-year-old Muataz Abu Shaar was shot dead by Israeli forces in Rafah, southern Gaza.
Meanwhile, in Jabalia, north of the enclave, an Israeli airstrike hit a Hamas-run police station, killing at least seven people, including a pregnant woman, and wounding several others.
The Hamas-run Interior Ministry announced that the Jabalia police chief, Mohammad Marwan Salem, and several other officers were among those killed.
According to police sources, Israel has intensified attacks on Hamas security forces and police stations, where dozens of operatives have been killed since October.
Israel demands that Hamas relinquish control of Gaza and disarm. While the group has stated that it is willing to hand over power, it continues to reject demands to hand over its weapons.
In Khan Yunis, another Israeli airstrike killed a 36-year-old man and wounded three other people, according to medics.
The Israeli military has not yet issued an official comment regarding the incidents in Rafah and Jabalia.
The latest violence occurred at a time when a Hamas delegation is in Cairo for new rounds of talks on the implementation of the second phase of the peace plan proposed by US President Donald Trump for Gaza.
According to sources familiar with the negotiations, discussions include the disarmament of Hamas and the withdrawal of the Israeli military from Gaza, but so far there has been little progress towards reaching a comprehensive agreement to end the conflict.
Hamas claims that Israeli ceasefire violations constitute the main obstacle to implementing the second phase of the agreement.
According to estimates, almost all of Gaza's 2 million residents, most of whom have been displaced several times during the war, currently live in a narrow area along the coast, mostly in makeshift tents or in badly damaged buildings.
According to Israeli authorities, Hamas-led militants killed about 1,200 people during the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. On the other hand, the Gaza Health Ministry says more than 73,000 Palestinians have been killed in the enclave since the start of the war.
