Israeli air strikes on Gaza have killed at least eight people, including a four-year-old child, in separate attacks near a school in Gaza City and in the southern city of Khan Younis, despite a year-old ceasefire agreement.
The deadliest civilian incident occurred in the Al-Rimal neighbourhood of Gaza City, where a missile struck a group of people near Cairo School, killing three, including the four-year-old boy, according to hospital officials.
In a separate attack in the Al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis, five police officers were killed when an Israeli drone struck them while they were carrying out routine duties, the Hamas-run Ministry of Interior said.
The Israeli military confirmed carrying out two attacks, describing their targets as military operatives, but provided no evidence or further details to support its claims.
Footage from outside Shifa Hospital in Gaza City showed mourners gathered in prayer beside two body bags and the tiny body of the child, wrapped in a white towel.
“My son and his child were martyred. They were sitting in their tent, bothering no one, and nothing else was happening in the area when suddenly, a missile struck them,” Ali Oweis, a relative of the victims, told AFP.
“There is no ceasefire; the war is ongoing, don’t you see?” he added.
At Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, grieving women were seen mourning as the bodies of the five police officers lay in body bags on the floor. The Interior Ministry identified the officers, aged between 23 and 53, and described the incident as a “horrific massacre”.
Although a ceasefire took effect in October last year, Israeli air strikes have continued almost daily across the Palestinian territory.
Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry says at least 1,580 people have been killed since the ceasefire began, figures considered reliable by the United Nations. Israel maintains that its operations are directed at Hamas, although civilians have repeatedly been among those killed.
Meanwhile, efforts to implement a Gaza peace plan brokered by the administration of US President Donald Trump have stalled.
The ceasefire agreement provided for the release of thousands of Palestinians detained by Israel in exchange for the 48 remaining hostages held in Gaza, alongside commitments to end the war.
Since the outbreak of the war, at least 74,594 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to the territory’s Health Ministry.
The conflict began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants attacked Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 others hostage.
