Israeli strikes kill nine in Gaza City as ceasefire violations mount

Deiral-balah,UPDATED: Jul 18, 2026 21:12 IST

Israeli strikes in Gaza City on Saturday killed at least nine Palestinians, including three children, hospital officials said. The Israeli military said it had targeted Hamas infrastructure and a "Hamas terrorist", while adding that it was looking into the results of one of the strikes.

Palestinians have reported an increase in the scale of Israeli strikes across Gaza over the past few days. Despite a ceasefire agreement reached in October between Israel and Hamas, Israel has continued near-daily attacks across the territory, saying it is targeting Hamas and other militants who pose a threat. Hamas and Israel have accused each other of violating the ceasefire.

A strike on an apartment in the Nasr neighbourhood killed at least five people, including three children aged between 8 and 18, Mohammed Abu Selmiya, director of Shifa Hospital where the bodies were taken, said. He said six other people were wounded, including four children aged between 8 and 16.

Another Israeli strike hit a group of people in the Zeitoun neighbourhood, killing four and critically wounding another person, health officials said. The Israeli military said it had targeted a "Hamas terrorist" in that strike.

According to Gaza's Health Ministry, at least 1,127 Palestinians, including at least 260 children, have been killed since the ceasefire, while five Israeli soldiers have been killed in the same period. The Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023, which triggered the war, killed about 1,200 people in Israel and saw 251 others taken hostage. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed 73,250 Palestinians, according to the ministry, which is staffed by medical professionals, keeps detailed records generally viewed as reliable by United Nations agencies and independent experts, and does not distinguish between civilians and militants, though it says women and children make up around half of those killed.

With PTI Inputs

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