Israel kills nine in Gaza as diplomatic efforts stall

Israeli strikes in Gaza early Sunday killed at least nine people and injured 23 others, in the latest breach of the so-called ceasefire despite recent diplomatic breakthroughs.

Palestinian authorities reported multiple attacks on residential buildings overnight.

One strike killed two Palestinians, including a child, after their apartment in al-Sousi Tower in Gaza City’s port area was hit early Sunday. Nearby, at Jabalia refugee camp, the Israeli military later struck another location, with medical sources saying one person was killed and several others injured.

Elsewhere in the besieged Gaza Strip, two Palestinians were killed in central Gaza after another apartment was struck in al-Masha’la. Three more residents, including a child, were killed in a strike on a house in the al-Qarara area northwest of Khan Younis.

Sunday’s deadly incidents came just two days after Hamas agreed to the latest stage of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan, which includes the handover of weapons alongside a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.

Mediators had described the announcement as a diplomatic breakthrough, but Israel has yet to formally agree to its side of the truce.

The Israeli military, which currently controls nearly 70% of the territory, has said there will be no withdrawal without Hamas’s "genuine disarmament".

Fikr Shalltoot, Gaza Director at Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP), has warned that diplomatic negotiations fall short of meeting the dire needs of Gaza's humanitarian situation.

"This is not what recovery looks like nor what was agreed in October," Shalltoot told The New Arab. "Meaningful improvement requires sustained, unrestricted humanitarian access and assistance delivered at the scale needed."

With Sunday’s casualties, Gaza’s health ministry said the death toll had risen to 73,356 since 7 October 2023, including 1,230 killed since the truce came into force in October last year.

Medical warehouse targeted

The latest strikes came one day after the Israeli military targeted a hospital warehouse in central Gaza, killing eight people and injuring several others on Saturday.

Palestinian health authorities said the strike hit a storage facility adjacent to al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, destroying two warehouses and causing significant damage to the hospital’s outpatient clinic.

Describing the attack as Israel’s "direct and systematic targeting" of medical infrastructure, Gaza’s health ministry said the bombardment "created panic and terror among patients, their companions, and medical staff".

Media reports said the strike left a crater 20 metres wide and 10 metres deep. The health ministry said "vital quantities of medical supplies and consumables intended for the care of patients and the wounded were lost or destroyed."

"The destruction of a medical supply warehouse is another devastating blow to Gaza’s already shattered health system," Shalltoot told The New Arab. "Under the current ‘ceasefire’, the near-total blockade on aid means barely enough medical supplies are getting in to meet people’s needs, let alone replace what has been depleted after nearly three years of genocide."

Health authorities have long warned of severe shortages of essential medical supplies and humanitarian aid in the besieged strip, accusing Israel of weaponising health through continuing restrictions on what can enter the territory.

"With so little entering Gaza, supplies destroyed today cannot simply be replaced tomorrow. With hospitals already struggling to keep people alive, every medicine and piece of equipment lost could cost more lives," Shalltoot added.

MAP's Head of Emergency, Sally Saleh, told The New Arab that "the destroyed warehouse stored IV solutions including saline and dextrose - which are essetial for virtually all in-patient care, in addition to all patients admitted through the emergency department."

She raised particular concern for rouhgly 165 hermodiyalisis patients, who risk suffering from consequences brought by the disruption of key supply. Saleh added that teams were currently attempting to recover any reusable medical supplies from the site.The Israeli military issued a statement on Saturday acknowledging it had targeted the area, claiming Hamas was using the premises to store weapons — an allegation repeatedly denied by Gaza health authorities and NGOs.

"What Gaza needs now is a sustained and unrestricted flow of medical supplies, alongside a permanent ceasefire that is upheld and accountability for violations of international law, including attacks on healthcare," Shalltoot said. "Without these, there can be no  meaningful recovery for Gaza’s health system."