Deadly strikes follow U.S. push for calm

Israeli airstrikes in Gaza on Wednesday killed at least 10 people, according to local hospitals and the Palestinian Red Crescent, casting further doubt on U.S. efforts to advance a tenuous ceasefire. The strikes came just two days after U.S. negotiators reportedly asked Israel to draw down attacks in the territory.

Israeli troops also crossed the ceasefire line in southern Gaza and detained a Hamas police colonel at dawn Wednesday, according to two witnesses and a Hamas official.

Israel’s military said one of the strikes, in the area of Nuseirat refugee camp, hit a Hamas commander who had participated in the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 abducted. A second strike in the Tuffah area of Gaza City struck four Hamas militants gathering in a police station, the military said, claiming they were planning attacks against Israeli troops.

The Hamas-run Interior Ministry said the Gaza City strike, which hit a police station, killed eight police officers and a 13-year-old girl. Two of the officers were women, it said. One person was killed in Nuseirat. The Palestinian Red Crescent reported that the strike on the police station killed at least nine people and wounded 15 others, a slightly different figure than that given by the Interior Ministry. The Associated Press, which originally reported the strike, also mentioned that one person was killed in Nuseirat, but did not provide a combined death toll for the Gaza City strike.

On Tuesday evening, an Israeli strike on a busy seaside cafe killed seven Palestinians, including a child, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Israel’s military said that strike had targeted a meeting of four Hamas commanders and additional militants, including one who had participated in the 2023 attack.

Diplomatic efforts under strain

The strikes came after Jared Kushner, a U.S. negotiator and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, held a marathon meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, in which he asked the Israeli leader to draw down attacks on the Gaza Strip, a person familiar with the meeting said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief journalists. The Boston Globe and other outlets also reported that Kushner met with Netanyahu on Monday to ask for a drawdown.

Israel has continued to carry out targeted killings in the week since a U.S. delegation met with Netanyahu, with strikes announced on six of the seven days following that meeting, according to reports. Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 1,288 Palestinians since the ceasefire took effect in October 2025, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Five Israeli soldiers have been killed in the same period, according to Israeli military figures.

The overall death toll since the war began in October 2023 has risen to more than 73,400 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

The ceasefire appears stalled, with sticking points on Hamas disarmament and Israeli withdrawal. Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem accused the Board of Peace, a U.S.-backed initiative, of providing a “cover” for Israeli escalation, as reported by several outlets including The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and The Boston Herald.

Other incidents and investigations

In a separate development, Israeli strikes killed at least four people on Monday, including two children, a week after a U.S. delegation asked Israel to draw down attacks, according to hospital officials. After evacuation warnings, a strike hit a building in the Bureij refugee camp, killing a 4-year-old child, according to Awda Hospital. Israeli strikes hit three other buildings across the territory after residents said they received evacuation warnings. Israel’s military said it targeted two Hamas weapons storage facilities inside mosques in the Shati refugee camp and Deir al-Balah, saying they contained dozens of “Kalashnikov rifles, magazines and additional military equipment.”

A man was killed in a strike on a tent in Deir al-Balah, according to Al-Aqsa Hospital. Israel’s military said it killed a militant affiliated with Hamas’ special forces unit. In Khan Younis, a man was killed and five others wounded in an Israeli strike, according to Nasser Hospital. Israeli tank fire east of Khan Younis killed a 10-year-old girl, the hospital said, though the Israeli military said it was not aware of the incident.

Israel’s military also said it had completed reviews of 150 incidents and would launch criminal investigations into the killings of a 5-year-old girl and 15 Palestinian paramedics, as reported by several outlets including The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and The Boston Herald.

Warnings over kite and balloon launches

Elsewhere, Palestinian health officials reported that two Israeli airstrikes on Sunday killed at least two people, including a four-year-old boy, and wounded seven others. One strike hit a building in Zawayda town in central Gaza, following a warning by the Israeli army for residents to leave, and the second struck the nearby Nuseirat refugee camp.

Israel warned it would intensify strikes after what it said were launches of balloons, drones and kites from Gaza toward Israel. Following a situation assessment, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel would intensify strikes and order civilians to leave areas if the launches did not stop immediately.

However, no explosive or incendiary devices were found on the kites. An Arabic inscription on one of the kites was reported to contain a threatening message. Hamas spokesperson called the kites “essentially children’s toys,” as reported by WDIV ClickOnDetroit and CP24.

A displaced Palestinian sheltering near the building struck in Zawayda, Abu Ahmed, told Reuters: “There is no ceasefire, there is nothing. We want solutions, we want to live in peace.”

Israel’s military said it was looking into both strikes. It also said it had struck and killed a senior Hamas militant, Sharif Al-Hasnat, in Deir al-Balah, claiming he was leading efforts to restore Hamas’ “underground infrastructure.”

More than 1,280 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire took effect last October, according to Gazan health officials, while the Israeli military has reported four soldiers killed in the same period, according to Reuters.

Perspectives

Israeli military

Israel’s military says its strikes target Hamas militants and commanders who participated in the Oct. 7, 2023 attack or are planning attacks against Israeli troops. It has warned it will intensify strikes in response to what it says are launches of balloons, drones and kites from Gaza, and has opened criminal investigations into some incidents.

Hamas and Palestinian officials

Hamas and Palestinian health officials say Israeli strikes have killed more than 1,280 people since the ceasefire, including many civilians, and accuse Israel of violating the truce. Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem said the Board of Peace is providing a “cover” for Israeli escalation. The Hamas-run Interior Ministry reported the deaths of eight police officers and a 13-year-old girl in one strike.

U.S. administration

U.S. negotiators, including Jared Kushner, have reportedly asked Israel to draw down attacks, and President Donald Trump has publicly called for an end to Israeli strikes. The ceasefire plan includes Hamas disarmament and Israeli withdrawal.