Gaza City, Palestinian territories. Israeli airstrikes in Gaza killed at least 12 people, the Palestinian health ministry said, with children reported among the dead in the latest violence straining a ceasefire.
Strikes reported in Gaza City and Khan Younis
One airstrike hit an apartment in Gaza City, killing three children and two women, according to a family member and the official Palestinian news agency Wafa. Another airstrike hit a tent in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, according to Wafa.
The Israeli military said it was looking into the report and did not immediately say whether it had carried out airstrikes in the enclave.
Witness accounts and images from the scene
Video showed charred, blackened and destroyed walls at an apartment in a multi-storey building, with debris scattered inside it and outside on a Gaza City street.
“We found my three little nieces in the street, they say ceasefire and all, what did those children do, what did we do?” said Samer al-Atbash, a relative.
Casualties since the truce and recent clashes
Israeli fire has killed more than 500 people, most of them civilians, according to Gaza health officials, since a US-brokered truce between Hamas and Israel took effect in October after two years of war.
Palestinian militants have killed four Israeli soldiers since the truce, according to Israeli authorities.
On Friday, the Israeli military said its forces identified eight gunmen emerging from a tunnel in Rafah in southern Gaza. It said three were killed and a fourth, described as a key Hamas commander in the area, was arrested.
Ceasefire negotiations and next phase issues
The two sides have traded blame over truce violations as Washington presses them to proceed to the next phases of the ceasefire deal meant to end the war for good.
The next phase of US President Donald Trump’s plan includes issues such as Hamas disarmament, which the group has long rejected, further Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, and the deployment of an international peacekeeping force.
What developments do you think could most affect the next phase of the ceasefire talks?