Israeli strikes in Gaza kill eight including child, hospitals say

Image source, Reuters

Mourners attend the funeral of five Palestinians, who were killed in an Israeli strike.

Israeli strikes in Gaza have killed at least eight people, including a child, according to hospitals, despite a year-old ceasefire.

In Gaza City to the north, hospital officials said a missile attack hit a group of civilians next to Cairo School in the Al-Rimal neighbourhood, killing three people, including a child.

In the southern city of Khan Younis, the Hamas-run ministry of interior said a drone attack targeted a group of police officers in the Al-Mawasi area, killing five, as they were carrying out their routine duties.

The Israeli military said it had carried out two attacks on what it described as military operatives but has not yet provided evidence or further information.

The interior ministry named the five police officers killed, who were between the ages of 23 and 53. The ministry called the attack a “horrific massacre” by Israeli forces.

A ceasefire came into force in Gaza in October last year, but Israeli air strikes have continued almost every day.

Since then, 1,580 people have been killed, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, whose figures are considered reliable by the UN. Israel says it is targeting Hamas, but often civilians are also killed.

Meanwhile, a peace plan for Gaza, brokered by the Trump administration, has stalled.

The ceasefire saw thousands of Palestinians held by Israel released in return for all of the 48 remaining hostages held in Gaza, and an agreement to end the war – which was triggered by the Hamas-led attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, when about 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage.

Since the war began, 74,594 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the territory’s health ministry.

Additional reporting by Jacob Phillips

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