Israeli strikes kill 11 in Gaza after failed rocket launch

Israeli airstrikes killed at least 11 Palestinians in separate attacks across the Gaza Strip on Thursday, according to medical officials. The Israeli military said the strikes were carried out in response to a failed rocket launch by militants in the enclave.

Medics said an Israeli airstrike killed at least four people and wounded three others, including children, after hitting a tent in the western area of Khan Younis in southern Gaza. Another strike killed one person east of the city, near an area where Israeli forces are operating.

Later in the day, medical officials reported that a man was killed when an Israeli strike hit a school sheltering displaced families in Jabalia, in northern Gaza. Another person was killed in a separate strike on a tent near Deir al-Balah in central Gaza.

Four additional people were killed in a separate airstrike in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City, medics said.

The Israeli military said it targeted several Hamas militants, rocket launch sites, and what it described as “terror infrastructure,” after a rocket was launched from the Gaza City area toward Israel. The military said the rocket fell short and landed near a hospital in Gaza, accusing Hamas of violating the ceasefire.

A source from the Palestinian militant group Hamas told Reuters that the group was checking the Israeli allegation.

The ceasefire agreed to in October has not moved beyond its first phase. Under that phase, major fighting stopped, Israel withdrew from less than half of Gaza, and Hamas released hostages in exchange for Palestinian detainees and convicted prisoners.

Future phases of the U.S.-backed plan, outlined by President Donald Trump, envision Hamas disarming, further Israeli troop withdrawals, and the rebuilding of Gaza under an internationally supported administration. However, progress on these next steps has stalled.

Since the ceasefire took effect, more than 400 Palestinians and three Israeli soldiers have been reported killed. Nearly all of Gaza’s more than 2 million residents are now living in makeshift shelters or damaged buildings in a narrow area where Israeli troops have withdrawn and Hamas has reasserted control.

Israel is awaiting the return of the final hostage body required under the initial phase of the truce. An Israeli official close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel will not move to the next phase of the ceasefire until Hamas returns the remains of the last Israeli hostage still held in Gaza.

Israel has also not opened the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, another condition of the U.S.-backed plan, saying it will do so only after the remains are returned.

Ceasefire Remains Fragile

Israel and Hamas have accused each other of serious violations of the ceasefire and remain far apart on the more difficult terms of the next phase.

Israel has continued to carry out airstrikes and targeted operations across Gaza, with the military saying it views any attempted attacks by militant groups “with utmost severity.”

A Hamas official told Reuters that the group has documented more than 1,100 Israeli violations of the ceasefire since October and has urged mediators to intervene. He said the violations include killings, injuries, artillery and airstrikes, home demolitions, and detentions.

Hamas has refused to disarm and has continued to reassert control in Gaza. Israel has said it will resume full military operations if Hamas does not disarm peacefully.

Hamas-led militants killed about 1,200 people and abducted 251 others during an attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, according to Israeli figures. Since then, more than 71,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s military offensive in Gaza, according to Gaza’s health ministry. -Reporting by Jana Choukeir in Dubai and Nidal al Mughrbai in Cairo; Writing by Tala Ramadan; Editing by Gareth Jones, Peter Graff, Andrew Heavens and Diane Craft/Reuters