Two children among six killed in Gaza

CAIRO: In the latest violation of the US-brokered ceasefire, Israel killed at least six Palestinians, including two children, in separate incidents across the Gaza Strip on Tuesday.

Palestinian interior ministry said that four people, including a child, were killed in a strike that targeted a police vehicle in Gaza City. A police officer was among the dead, while nine bystanders were wounded, some critically, it said.

Medics and witnesses said the attack at Nafaq Street in Gaza City set a police car ablaze and that residents and rescue workers rushed to search for possible casualties.

Gaza City’s Al-Shifa hospital confirmed receiving the bodies of the dead.

Israel has escalated attacks on police and security forces, Palestinian officials say

In the north of the enclave, near Jabalia, Israeli troops killed three-year-old Yahya Al-Malahi, health authorities and his family said.

In northern Gaza, Israel’s military said it killed a man who the Israeli military claimed had approached the armistice line with Hamas, describing him as an “armed militant”.

Health authorities confirmed a man had been killed in the area, without providing details.

The ceasefire that began last October halted two years of full-blown war but left Israeli troops in control of a depopulated zone that makes up well over half of Gaza, with Hamas in power in the remaining, narrow coastal strip.

Israel has escalated its attacks on Hamas-led police and security forces since October, killing dozens, the group’s officials in Gaza said, accusing Israel of trying to cause chaos and anarchy.

Palestinians also say Israeli forces have been expanding the zone they occupy.

A Gaza Government Media Office report on Tuesday reported widespread Israeli breaches of the ceasefire deal, including incidents of gunfire, bombardment, and restrictions on aid deliveries.

The report said that more than six months after a ceasefire came into effect on October 10, 2025, Israeli forces have committed 2,400 violations of the ceasefire deal brokered by the US, resulting in 754 deaths and 2,100 injuries of Palestinians.

It said the ceasefire violations include gunfire incidents, bombardments, and the demolition of residential structures. It said that victims of Israeli attacks are mainly women and children. According to the breakdown provided in the report, the Israeli violations include 921 incidents of gunfire, 1,109 bombardment or targeting incidents, 97 cases of military vehicles entering residential areas, and 273 incidents of demolitions of homes and other buildings.

The report said the Israeli aggression during this period killed 754 people, including 312 children, women, and elderly individuals. It affirmed that 99 per cent of the fatalities were civilians. A further 2,100 people were injured, with more than 1,096 of them said to be from vulnerable groups. The report said all injuries occurred within residential areas, away from what it termed the “yellow line” demarcation.

The report said that 50 Palestinians were detained during the period, who were abducted from residential areas.

Published in Dawn, April 15th, 2026