An Israeli airstrike on Sunday struck a gathering on Jaffa Street near the Darraj neighbourhood in Gaza City, killing four Palestinians and injuring additional people, local health workers reported.
Medics who responded to the scene said the strike hit a group of people in the area. The Israeli military did not immediately issue a comment on the incident.
The strike adds to a pattern of clashes and deadly incidents that have tested a ceasefire agreed last October - an agreement that halted two years of large-scale war. Palestinian and Israeli authorities have exchanged accusations of violating the truce during the period since its inception.
According to Gaza’s health ministry, Israeli fire has been responsible for at least 700 deaths since the ceasefire began. Israeli authorities say militants in Gaza have killed four soldiers during the same interval.
Separately, a delegation from Hamas met with mediators from Egypt, Qatar and Turkey in Cairo last week to present its initial response to a disarmament proposal that had been put forward the previous month, two Egyptian sources and a Palestinian official said. The group has made clear to those mediators that it will not enter discussions about giving up arms without guarantees that Israel will fully withdraw from Gaza in accordance with a disarmament plan tied to U.S. President Donald Trump’s "Board of Peace", three sources said on Thursday.
Hamas’ potential disarmament remains a central obstacle in talks aimed at turning the ceasefire framework into a durable settlement. The group’s resistance to discussing disarmament absent ironclad withdrawal assurances has kept negotiators and mediators grappling over next steps.
The October 7, 2023 attacks carried out by Hamas in Israel resulted in 1,200 deaths, according to Israeli tallies. Israel’s subsequent campaign over two years resulted in the deaths of more than 72,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, Gazan health authorities say. Health officials say the campaign also contributed to widespread famine, the destruction of most buildings across the territory, and multiple displacements of the majority of the population.
Summary - An airstrike in northern Gaza killed four people and wounded others on Sunday, while ongoing negotiations over disarmament and guarantees for Israeli withdrawal have so far failed to resolve a key sticking point in cementing the ceasefire.
- Where - Jaffa Street near the Darraj neighbourhood, Gaza City.
- Casualties - Four Palestinians killed, others wounded; Gaza health ministry reports at least 700 deaths from Israeli fire since the ceasefire began.
- Negotiations - Hamas met Egyptian, Qatari and Turkish mediators; the group refuses to discuss disarmament without full Israeli withdrawal guarantees tied to President Trump’s "Board of Peace" plan.