At least 10 Palestinians, including a 10-year-old boy and a senior Hamas police officer, were killed in separate Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, according to Palestinian health officials and police.
The latest casualties bring the number of Palestinians killed since the Israel-Hamas ceasefire took effect in October to more than 1,100, Gaza health authorities said.
While the truce has largely halted full-scale fighting, sporadic violence has continued. During the same period, four Israeli soldiers have also been killed in attacks by Palestinian militants.
Among those killed on Tuesday was 10-year-old Muataz Abu Shaar, who medics said died after being shot by Israeli forces in Rafah, southern Gaza.
In northern Gaza, an Israeli airstrike struck a Hamas-run police post in Jabalia, killing at least seven people, including a woman, and injuring several others.
The Hamas-run Interior Ministry said those killed included Colonel Mohammad Marwan Salem, the head of the Jabalia police force, along with several officers.
Israel, however, identified Salem differently. The Israeli military said he was the commander of Hamas’ central Jabalia battalion and confirmed he was killed alongside three other militants.
According to the military, the group had been planning attacks and was targeted to eliminate what it described as an immediate securitgy threat.
Israel has repeatedly insisted that Hamas must surrender control of Gaza and disarm as part of any lasting peace agreement. Hamas has indicated it is willing to relinquish governance of the enclave but continues to reject demands to lay down its weapons.
Later in the day, another Palestinian was killed and several others wounded near a mosque in western Gaza City, raising Tuesday’s death toll to at least 10. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on that incident or on the reported killing of the 10-year-old boy.
In Khan Younis, an Israeli airstrike killed a 36-year-old man and wounded three others. The Israeli military said the strike targeted a Hamas militant.
The renewed violence comes as Hamas officials continue talks in Cairo on implementing the second phase of U.S. President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace initiative.
According to sources familiar with the negotiations, discussions are focused on Hamas’ future role, the group’s disarmament, and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. However, the talks have made little headway in recent weeks.
Hamas maintains that repeated Israeli ceasefire violations have undermined efforts to advance the next phase of the agreement.
The humanitarian crisis in Gaza remains severe. Nearly all of the enclave’s two million residents many displaced multiple times during the war are now confined to a narrow coastal strip, living in overcrowded tents or heavily damaged buildings.
The conflict began after Hamas-led fighters launched a cross-border attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people, according to Israeli figures. Gaza’s Health Ministry says more than 73,000 Palestinians have been killed in the territory since the war erupted.
