Israeli airstrikes hit Gaza; at least two killed, including a 4-year-old
Israel says it will step up strikes after projectiles and unmanned devices were launched from Gaza; one child named Mohamad Abdel-Salam Taha later died.
Two Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip killed at least two people and wounded seven others, Palestinian health authorities said, as Israel warned it would intensify strikes in response to balloons, drones and kites launched from Gaza toward Israeli territory.
One strike struck a building in the central Gaza town of Zawayda after the Israeli army had warned the owners to evacuate the area, according to medical sources. Flying debris and shrapnel scattered for tens of metres around the structure, injuring at least six people, including the four-year-old Mohamad Abdel-Salam Taha, who later died in hospital.
“There is no ceasefire, there is nothing. We want solutions, we want to live in peace,” said Abu Ahmed, a displaced Palestinian who had taken shelter near the building that the airstrike reduced to twisted metal and concrete.
Army says it is probing the strikes
The second strike hit the nearby Nuseirat refugee camp, health authorities reported. The Israeli military said it was investigating both attacks.
The incidents come amid a fragile U.S.-backed ceasefire that entered into force in October 2025. The truce halted large-scale fighting but has not prevented Israeli raids that the army says target Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza.
Late on Saturday the Israeli army said it carried out an operation in which a senior Hamas operative, Sharif Al-Hasnat, was killed in the city of Deir al-Balah; the army said he led efforts to rebuild Hamas’s “underground infrastructure.” Hamas accuses Israel of breaching the ceasefire and undermining attempts to implement a wider plan proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump that envisages an Israeli withdrawal and the disarmament of Hamas.
Palestinian health authorities say more than 1,280 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire took effect in October last year, while the Israeli army reported four Israeli soldiers killed. Israel has killed over 72,500 people in Gaza over two and a half years, and more than 172,000 people have been injured.
Photo: Hassan Jedi / AFP / Profimedia
