Israeli strike kills parents and two children in Gaza, medics say

An Israeli airstrike killed a man, his wife, and their two daughters, aged 8 and 12, in a house in the northern Gaza Strip on Thursday, health officials said, after the Israeli military escalated bombardments over the past two days.

Health officials and relatives in Gaza confirmed the killing of Muamen Ahmed, alongside his wife an children.

At Gaza's Al Shifa Hospital, friends and relatives flocked to pay their respect as the white-shrouded bodies of the family members were laid on the ground before being taken to burials.

Zuhair Al-Haisami, a neighbour of the victims, said an airstrike had hit their home at 2 a.m., while they were sleeping.

"There isn't any truce," he said. "Not a single day passes without martyrs, or (people being) injured," he added.

An October 2025, U.S.-backed ceasefire halted large-scale fighting, but it has not ended Israeli strikes and there has been little progress on steps towards permanent peace.

Hamas accuses Israel of violating the ceasefire and undermining efforts to implement U.S. President Donald Trump's broader plan to end the Gaza conflict, which includes the Israeli withdrawal from the strip and the disarmament of Hamas.

Israel claims Hamas has been violating the deal.

More than 1,300 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed ‌in Gaza ⁠since the ceasefire took effect, according to the territory's health officials, while the Israeli military says four Israeli soldiers have been killed.

The Israeli military struck at least six homes across Gaza in the past two days, causing damage to nearby houses and tent shelters and forcing many families to flee, residents and medics said.

Some owners of the houses, or their neighbours, got a call from the military ordering them to leave the area shortly before missiles struck the buildings, residents said.

The Israeli military did not comment directly on the strikes on houses, but claimed on Tuesday and Wednesday it had hit and dismantled several weapons storage facilities belonging to Hamas and the Islamic Jihad group.

Ismail Al-Thawabta, director of the Gaza government media office, denied Israeli allegations, saying that Israel's targets were "the civilians and their homes."

More than 73,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's genocidal campaign in the coastal enclave, most of them civilians, according to Gaza health authorities.