Cairo, Egypt. Israeli strikes killed six Palestinians, including a child, in the Gaza Strip on Monday, according to health officials in the territory, as residents reported that Israel’s military expanded the area under its control. The developments came as mediators in Cairo continued efforts to salvage a fragile U.S.-brokered ceasefire.
Casualties reported across Gaza
Medics said two people were killed when an Israeli strike hit near a tent encampment in the Mawasi area of Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
In the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, medics said three Palestinians, including an 8-year-old boy, were killed and others were wounded in an Israeli airstrike near a group of people digging a well.
Later on Monday, medics said an Israeli airstrike near Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza killed one person and wounded three others, bringing the day’s death toll to six.
Military control and ceasefire tensions
The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the reports of the attacks or on reports that its forces had moved markers to expand the “Yellow Zone” under their control.
Israel and Hamas have repeatedly accused each other of violating the truce. Health officials say Israeli strikes have killed more than 950 people since the ceasefire began, while Israel says four soldiers were killed by militants during the same period.
Humanitarian conditions in Gaza
Israeli troops still control more than 60% of Gaza’s territory, where residents have been ordered to leave and remaining buildings have been destroyed.
Nearly the entire population of 2 million people now lives in a narrow coastal strip, mainly in makeshift tents or damaged buildings, under Hamas control.
The territory has been reduced to ruins by Israel’s two-year military assault following the 2023 Hamas attack on southern Israel.