Israeli strike in Gaza kills family of four, including two children

On Thursday, an Israeli airstrike in Gaza claimed the lives of a family of four, including two young children, according to Palestinian sources. The Ahmad family was identified as the victims after an explosion rocked a house in the Beit Lahia area of northern Gaza, according to an official at Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City. The children, aged 12 and 8, were among the four bodies recovered, pieces scattered across the rubble.

In contrast, the Israeli military asserted that its airstrike targeted a military operative, Muamen Abd al-Rahman Ahmad, who had actively participated in combat against Israeli forces, despite the ceasefire agreement. Ahmad was killed while operating from a military structure that had previously housed terrorists.

The Israeli military also claimed it struck a military structure in the heart of the Jabalia refugee camp, and that forces engaged in firing on ambulances and tents housing displaced people. The Palestinian security source accused Israel of continuing its violations in Gaza.

Elsewhere in Gaza, five individuals were killed in three separate Israeli strikes on Thursday, raising the death toll for the day to nine, as reported by the territory's civil defense agency. Three of the victims fell victim to a drone strike near Khan Yunis.

Since the October 2023 ceasefire brokered by the United States, Israel has been advancing deeper into Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue strikes on Hamas, which orchestrated the 7 October 2023 attack against Israel, and has refused to withdraw troops until Hamas surrenders all its weapons. As of the Gaza Health Ministry's figures, over 1,300 people have been killed since the ceasefire was declared, with the Israeli military reporting five of those deaths.