Israeli fire and airstrikes killed at least nine Palestinians in Gaza on Tuesday, including a 10-year-old boy and a senior Hamas police officer, according to local health and police officials, according to Reuters.
In Rafah, in southern Gaza, medics said 10-year-old Muataz Abu Shaar was shot and killed by Israeli gunfire. His death adds to the growing civilian toll in a conflict that has continued despite a ceasefire agreed in October.
In the north, an Israeli airstrike hit a police post in Jabalia, killing at least seven people, including a woman. Among the dead was Colonel Mohammad Marwan Salem, head of the local police force, Gaza’s Hamas-run interior ministry said. Several others were wounded.
Another airstrike in Khan Younis killed a 36-year-old man and injured three others. The Israeli military said it had targeted a Hamas militant but did not immediately comment on the incidents in Rafah or Jabalia.
Although the ceasefire paused large-scale fighting, violence has not stopped. Gaza health officials say more than 1,100 Palestinians have been killed since the truce began. During the same period, four Israeli soldiers have also been killed.
Israel has increasingly targeted Hamas security forces and police positions, aiming to weaken the group’s control. While Hamas has signaled it could give up governing Gaza, it continues to reject demands to disarm.
The latest violence comes as Hamas leaders hold talks in Cairo on the next phase of a US-backed peace plan. The discussions include possible Israeli troop withdrawals and Hamas disarmament, but progress has been slow.
Meanwhile, Gaza’s humanitarian crisis deepens. Nearly all of its 2 million residents have been displaced, many now living in tents or damaged buildings along the coast.
The war began after Hamas-led fighters killed about 1,200 people in Israel on October 7, 2023. Since then, Gaza’s health ministry says more than 73,000 Palestinians have been killed.
