GAZA CITY, October 3, 2026 — An Israeli airstrike hit a residential apartment in western Gaza City in the early hours of Saturday, killing at least five people and severely wounding six others, according to medical staff at al-Shifa Hospital, in one of the deadliest overnight attacks on the city in recent weeks.
The strike targeted the al-Asala building in the crowded Remal neighbourhood at about 1:28 a.m. local time, Palestinian media reported, without any prior warning while residents were asleep. Remal is one of Gaza City’s most densely populated districts, where thousands of displaced Palestinians are sheltering in makeshift camps.
“We heard fighter jets getting louder, then three strikes followed, hitting the apartment and killing those inside,” Al Jazeera correspondent Hani al-Shaer reported from Khan Younis. The blast penetrated the targeted apartment and tore through the floors below, causing extensive damage throughout the multi-storey building. Fires burned for about an hour before Palestinian Civil Defence teams managed to extinguish them, officials said.
Al-Shaer described the scene as “horrific”, saying people were trapped under the rubble while they slept. Civil Defence crews continued searching the site for missing people and bodies on Saturday morning while Israeli drones remained overhead and fighter jets were heard flying at low altitude over the Strip, witnesses said.
The dead included four women, among them an elderly Christian woman and her daughter, al-Shifa Hospital staff said. The Greek Orthodox Church in Gaza named the two as Maisa Daoud and her daughter Mary, mourning them as victims of the overnight strike. Palestinian media reported that a 21-year-old man was also killed, bringing the reported death toll to six. Among the injured was a young man with Down syndrome, according to local reports.
Target Was Reportedly Senior Hamas Figure
Israel attempted to assassinate Ali al-Amoudi, a senior figure in Hamas’ political wing in Gaza, in the overnight strike on western Gaza City, an Israeli security source told Haaretz on Saturday.
There was no immediate official comment from the Israeli military on the reported assassination attempt, and it remains unclear whether it was successful, the report said.
Al-Amoudi, considered close to former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, was released from an Israeli prison in the 2011 Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange, according to the report. He later ran Sinwar’s office while Sinwar headed Hamas in Gaza and subsequently led the group’s media apparatus in the Strip, Israeli media said.
Ceasefire Under Strain
Israel says it targets Hamas fighters who have rearmed and launched attacks in violation of a US-brokered ceasefire reached last year. Hamas denies rebuilding its arsenal and accuses Israel of repeated ceasefire breaches. Negotiators have not agreed on terms for Hamas to disarm or for a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
Gaza officials say more than 1,400 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since last October’s ceasefire took effect. Gunfire and explosions were also heard on Saturday morning in Khan Younis and central Gaza, according to Palestinian reports, in what witnesses described as a continuing escalation across the Strip.
The overnight Remal strike drew swift condemnation from Palestinian officials, who called it a violation of the ceasefire and a massacre of civilians in their sleep. There was no immediate Israeli military statement on the attack or its casualties as of Saturday morning.
