On an ordinary stretch of autumn, a child sheltering in a tent in Gaza City and five police officers in Khan Younis became the latest names in a long ledger of loss, killed in strikes that arrived more than a year after a ceasefire was meant to quiet the guns. The ceasefire, reached in October and built on the release of prisoners and the return of hostages, has held in name while the sound of aircraft has not faded. Israel says it struck military operatives; the families and officials who gathered around the bodies say otherwise, and the evidence that might settle the matter has not yet been
Israeli strikes in Gaza kill eight, including a child, despite year-old ceasefire, hospitals say
"There is no ceasefire; the war is ongoing, don't you see?"
Eight people dead in a day sounds almost routine now. Why does this one deserve attention?
Because of where it falls. The ceasefire is a year old, and these strikes hit a tent and a group of police officers, not a front line. Ali Oweis's words capture how people there see it: there is no ceasefire.
Two different strikes, two different kinds of victims.
Yes. In Gaza City, three civilians including a four-year-old boy. In Khan Younis, five police officers aged 23 to 53, who the Hamas-run interior ministry says were on routine duty.
Let's be careful about what's confirmed. The deaths come from hospitals and the Hamas-run ministry. That's attribution, not independent verification of who the victims were.
Fair. And Israel's side is thin so far. It says it hit military operatives in two attacks, but it hasn't provided evidence.
So the claim that the police were on routine duty is the ministry's, and the claim that targets were operatives is Israel's. Neither is established here.
What about the 1,580 figure since the ceasefire?
It comes from Gaza's health ministry. The UN considers its figures reliable, which counts for something, but it's still one source's tally.
And the larger picture is a stalled Trump-brokered peace plan, so there's no obvious political process to change this.
Which we can say is stalled, but not why, and not what happens next. The article doesn't tell us.
O Pulso
- A four-year-old boy died in a tent in Gaza City, and his grandfather's cry that there is no ceasefire cuts through the official language.
- Five Hamas-run police officers, aged 23 to 53, were killed by a drone in Khan Younis, and the ministry calls it a horrific massacre.
- Israel insists it hit military operatives in two attacks but has not yet produced evidence, leaving every claim suspended in doubt.
- Near-daily air strikes have killed 1,580 people since October, and the Trump-brokered peace plan has stalled with no clear path to revival.
On an ordinary stretch of autumn, a child sheltering in a tent in Gaza City and five police officers in Khan Younis became the latest names in a long ledger of loss, killed in strikes that arrived more than a year after a ceasefire was meant to quiet the guns. The ceasefire, reached in October and built on the release of prisoners and the return of hostages, has held in name while the sound of aircraft has not faded. Israel says it struck military operatives; the families and officials who gathered around the bodies say otherwise, and the evidence that might settle the matter has not yet been offered. Between those competing accounts, a peace plan brokered in Washington waits, and the people of Gaza wait with it.
Outside Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, men stood in prayer beside two body bags and the small body of a four-year-old boy wrapped in a white towel. He was one of at least eight people killed in Israeli strikes, more than a year after a ceasefire took effect.
In Gaza City, a missile struck civilians beside Cairo School in the Al-Rimal neighbourhood, killing three, the boy among them. His grandfather, Ali Oweis, told AFP that the child and his grandchild had been sitting in their tent when it hit, with nothing else happening nearby. "There is no ceasefire; the war is ongoing, don't you see?" he asked.
Farther south, in Khan Younis, a drone struck a group of police officers in the Al-Mawasi area. Five were killed while performing routine duties, according to the Hamas-run interior ministry, which called the attack a horrific massacre. At Nasser Hospital, body bags lay on the floor as women wept.
The Israeli military says it carried out two attacks on military operatives, but it has not yet provided evidence, so who was targeted remains unconfirmed.
The October ceasefire freed thousands of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the 48 remaining hostages, and both sides agreed to end the war. Yet strikes have continued almost daily, and Gaza's health ministry, whose figures the UN considers reliable, counts 1,580 deaths since then. The war itself has claimed 74,594 lives since the Hamas-led attack of 7 October 2023.
A Trump-brokered peace plan has stalled. For now, the open questions are whether Israel will substantiate its claims and whether the plan can be revived.
Outside Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, a group of men stood in prayer beside two body bags and the small body of a child wrapped in a white towel. Video from the scene shows the gathering. The boy was four years old, one of at least eight people killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza, according to hospitals and officials, more than a year after a ceasefire took effect.
In Gaza City, hospital officials said a missile hit a group of civilians beside Cairo School in the Al-Rimal neighbourhood. Three people died, the four-year-old among them. Ali Oweis told the AFP news agency that his son and his grandchild were killed while sitting in their tent. By his account, nothing else was happening in the area when the missile struck. "There is no ceasefire; the war is ongoing, don't you see?" he said.
Farther south, in Khan Younis, the Hamas-run ministry of interior said a drone attack hit a group of police officers in the Al-Mawasi area. Five were killed, and the ministry said they were carrying out routine duties. It named them; they were between 23 and 53 years old. The ministry called the strike a "horrific massacre." At Nasser Hospital, video showed body bags on the floor and women overcome with grief.
The Israeli military said it had carried out two attacks on what it described as military operatives. It has not yet provided evidence or further information, so the claims about who was targeted remain unverified.
The ceasefire came into force in October last year. Under it, thousands of Palestinians held by Israel were released in exchange for all 48 remaining hostages held in Gaza, and the sides agreed to end the war. Yet Israeli air strikes have continued almost every day since. Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry, whose figures the UN considers reliable, says 1,580 people have been killed in that period. Israel says it is targeting Hamas, but civilians are often killed as well.
The war began after the Hamas-led attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage. Since then, the health ministry says, 74,594 people have been killed in Gaza.
Meanwhile, a peace plan for Gaza brokered by the Trump administration has stalled. With no evidence yet offered for Israel's account of these two strikes and no political track moving, the next things to watch are whether the military substantiates its claims and whether the stalled plan revives.
Citações Notáveis
There is no ceasefire; the war is ongoing, don't you see?— Ali Oweis, speaking to AFP
The interior ministry called the Khan Younis attack a "horrific massacre."— Hamas-run ministry of interior