GAZA CITY — October 23, 2026. Israeli strikes and gunfire killed at least four Palestinians across the Gaza Strip on Thursday, medics and health officials said, as a year-old U.S.-brokered ceasefire continued to fray and fresh attacks wounded several more on Friday.
Deadly incidents across four areas
The casualties were spread across the territory in separate incidents on Thursday. In Gaza City, an Israeli strike hit a car in the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood, killing at least one person, medics said, revising an earlier toll of two. Crowds gathered around the burning wreckage as orange-vested emergency crews sprayed it with water, photos from the scene showed.
Gaza’s Hamas-led Interior Ministry said the strike killed a non-commissioned officer from the drug-control police department and wounded another officer, adding that the two were returning from an assignment when their vehicle was struck.
Elsewhere, medics said a strike killed a man riding a bicycle in the southern city of Khan Younis, while another man was killed near the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza. In the north, gunfire killed a woman near the Jabalia refugee camp, according to medics.
Israel says it targeted Hamas fighters
Israel’s military said its strikes targeted Hamas militants in Khan Younis, Nuseirat and Gaza City. It said it was not immediately aware of the reported shooting in Jabalia and did not immediately comment on the strike near the refugee camp, reports said.
Israel has stepped up its strikes against Hamas in recent weeks, accusing the Palestinian group of rebuilding its arsenal and launching attacks in violation of the ceasefire. Hamas denies it has attempted to carry out attacks or rebuild its weapons stockpiles, accusing Israel of undermining the agreement through continued military operations.
Ceasefire frays as toll mounts
Gaza health officials say at least 1,500 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire began, while Israel says four of its soldiers have died. Palestinian authorities put the overall death toll from Israel’s offensive, launched after the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel, at more than 74,000.
The U.S.-brokered ceasefire envisages the eventual reconstruction of the territory, but little progress has been made as negotiators have failed to agree terms for Hamas to disarm and for Israel to withdraw its troops.
Friday attacks and deepening aid shortages
The violence continued into Friday, when an Israeli airstrike killed one Palestinian and wounded several others in the southern Gaza Strip, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.
Humanitarian agencies meanwhile warned of worsening conditions inside the territory. Seven bakeries across the Strip were at risk of closing after a severe flour shortage, following Israel’s decision last week to suspend the entry of goods through private merchants. UNICEF has warned that disruption to supplies could reverse recent gains in tackling malnutrition in Gaza.
