Israeli strikes in Gaza kill 9 Palestinians, including 3 children, health officials report

Israeli strikes in Gaza on Saturday killed at least nine Palestinians, including three children, according to hospital officials. The attacks occurred in the Nasr neighborhood of Gaza City, where an airstrike on an apartment killed at least five people, including three children aged 8 to 18. Six others were injured, among them four children aged 8 to 16, said Mohammed Abu Selmiya, director of Shifa Hospital. The Israeli military stated it targeted Hamas infrastructure and located militants in the area, without providing further details.

Another strike in the Zeitoun neighborhood killed four people and critically wounded one, according to health officials. The Israeli military claimed it targeted a “Hamas terrorist” and was investigating the strike’s results. Palestinians have reported an increase in the frequency of Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip in recent days.

Despite a ceasefire agreement reached in October between Israel and Hamas, Israel continues to conduct near-daily attacks, asserting it is targeting Hamas and other militants. Hamas and Israel have exchanged accusations of ceasefire violations. Since the ceasefire, at least 1,127 Palestinians, including 260 children, have been killed, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Five Israeli soldiers have been killed in that period.

The Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas-led militants that triggered the war resulted in the deaths of around 1,200 people in Israel and the taking of 251 hostages. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has led to the deaths of 73,250 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry, part of the Hamas-led government, is staffed by medical professionals and is considered reliable by UN agencies and independent experts. It does not differentiate between civilians and militants but notes that women and children account for about half of all deaths.

The conflict has seen repeated incidents of civilian casualties, including an Israeli strike on a funeral in Gaza that killed seven people and wounded 22 on July 17, 2026. Earlier, Israeli military attacks had killed six people, including police officers, on July 15, 2026. The ongoing violence underscores the complex and tragic human cost of the conflict, with civilians bearing the brunt of the suffering.

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