Overview
- Israeli strikes across central Gaza over the past days killed multiple Palestinians, including a 4-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl, and forced families to flee and seek shelter among rubble.
- The Israel Defense Forces said the operations hit militant positions and weapons storage and reported killing a Hamas company commander, and it issued evacuation warnings minutes before some strikes.
- A U.S. delegation privately asked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reduce attacks, but Israeli forces continued operations in six of the seven days after that meeting and Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz warned they would intensify strikes if kite, balloon or drone launches do not stop.
- Civilians and services have been hit directly, with reports of a small desalination plant and homes struck, hospitals treating the dead and wounded, and rescue teams reporting people trapped under debris.
- The renewed strikes add to a long-running humanitarian crisis: Gaza health authorities count about 73,420 deaths since October 2023 and roughly 1,286–1,288 deaths since the October 2025 ceasefire, and claims that Israel now controls a larger share of Gaza complicate prospects for reconstruction and any stabilization plan.