Israeli strikes kill eight in Gaza as ceasefire falters

Israeli strikes killed five people in Gaza on Thursday (26 February), according to health officials in the territory. The Israeli military said separately that it had killed a militant who posed an imminent threat to its forces in southern Gaza.

Medics reported that an Israeli airstrike targeting a group of Palestinians in Gaza City’s Tuffah neighbourhood killed two people and wounded several others.

Later in the day, three more people were killed in drone strikes on two police checkpoints — one in Khan Younis in southern Gaza and another near the Abu Hujair area, northwest of the Bureij refugee camp. Several others were injured, some critically.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment on those specific incidents. However, it said in a separate statement that its forces operating in southern Gaza had killed a militant who posed an imminent threat after entering an area of Gaza still under Israeli military control.

Gaza’s Interior Ministry and National Security said one of the strikes hit a police checkpoint on Salah al-Din Street at the entrance to the Bureij refugee camp, killing one officer and seriously wounding another.

The ministry described the attack as a violation of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that began last October.

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Israel has said four of its soldiers have been killed by militants in Gaza since the truce took effect, with both sides accusing each other of breaching the agreement.

Under the second phase of the deal, which began in January, Israel is expected to further withdraw its troops from Gaza, while Hamas is set to relinquish control of the territory’s administration.

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