Gaza strikes kill children and Al Jazeera cameraman despite ceasefire

Deiral-balah,UPDATED: Jun 21, 2026 03:58 IST

Israeli strikes in Gaza on Saturday killed at least six people, including two children and an Al Jazeera cameraman, Palestinian health officials said. The deaths came despite an October ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, as Gaza has continued to see near-daily Israeli attacks that have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.

On Saturday evening alone, three Israeli strikes killed four people and wounded at least a dozen others, according to hospitals in Gaza. The Israeli military said it was looking into one of the incidents and later said the Al Jazeera cameraman was killed in a "precise strike" because he was part of Hamas' military wing and posed a threat to troops in the area.

The first strike on Saturday hit an apartment in Gaza City at about 2 am local time, the ministry said. At the site, an Associated Press reporter saw rubble and chunks of concrete stained with blood. The bodies of two sisters, four-year-old Zina and 14-year-old Lana, were taken to Shifa Hospital's morgue, where they lay in white hospital bags surrounded by family members.

"I was sitting at home. The rocket fell on us without a warning," their cousin Mohammad Safadi, who had a wound on his forehead, said. He said his wife was also hurt. "This ceasefire the occupation and the negotiation team speak of is this really a ceasefire? We are civilians. I never held a weapon," Safadi said.

The Israeli military said it was looking into that incident. Later on Saturday, one strike hit a house in central Gaza's Bureij refugee camp without warning, killing three people, including Al Jazeera cameraman Ahmed Wishah, according to Al-Aqsa hospital. Al Jazeera confirmed Wishah's death. His brother Mohamed, who was a correspondent for Al Jazeera, was killed in an Israeli strike in April.

Another strike targeted a group of people in the tent camp of Muwasi in southern Gaza, killing one person and wounding eight others, according to Nasser hospital, where the casualties were taken. A third strike in Gaza City targeted a group of people and wounded at least four others, according to Shifa hospital.

In a statement, the Israeli military said Wishah had been killed in a "precise strike" and asserted that he had been part of Hamas' military wing and had posed a threat to troops in the area. Israel says it is targeting Hamas and other militants who pose a threat. Five Israeli soldiers have been killed since the truce.

The war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants stormed southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage. Israel's retaliatory military offensive in Gaza has killed 73,018 Palestinians, including those killed since the ceasefire, Gaza's Health Ministry said. The ministry, which is part of the Hamas-led government, is staffed by medical professionals and keeps detailed records that are generally considered reliable by United Nations agencies and independent experts, though it does not distinguish between civilians and militants. It says women and children make up around half of those killed.

Saturday's strikes, including the deaths of two children and an Al Jazeera cameraman, underlined the continued violence in Gaza despite the ceasefire, with both Palestinian health officials and the Israeli military giving accounts of the attacks and their aftermath.

With PTI Inputs

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