Israeli strikes kill five people, including three from one family, in Gaza

Israeli forces carried out a series of attacks on Friday that killed five Palestinians, including three members of the same family, according to medical and news agencies. The strikes took place in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, and were accompanied by demolitions and claims of the elimination of Hamas and Islamic Jihad commanders.

In southern Gaza, a drone fired a missile at a group of Palestinians north of Khan Younis. Medical sources said the strike killed three members of the Abdeen family. Their bodies were later taken to Nasser Medical Complex in the governorate. Another missile strike in the Sabra neighbourhood of Gaza City hit a group of civilians, killing a man named Hassan al‑Deiri. He was transported to Al‑Shifa Hospital, along with several wounded people. A third strike hit a tent in the Mashahra area east of Gaza City, killing one person and injuring several others.

The Israeli military also struck the West Bank city of Jenin, killing three Palestinians. One of the dead was identified as Qais Bitawi, whom the army said was a Hamas operative, a claim it said was made without evidence. The army also said it had killed two Palestinian commanders – one affiliated with Hamas and the other with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad – in separate attacks on Gaza City the previous day, again without providing evidence.

Throughout Friday, Israeli forces carried out a wide‑scale demolition operation in areas under its control southeast of Gaza City, according to reporters in the strip.

These attacks come in the middle of a United States‑brokered ceasefire that has been in place since October 2025, but the Gaza Strip remains in a state of severe food insecurity. Data released by the United Nations World Food Programme on Thursday showed that 46 percent of those surveyed in Gaza reported going to bed hungry at least once in the last 30 days. Seven percent said they had gone to bed hungry more than ten times during that period, and half of households reported running out of food at least once. The August food‑security analysis found that 21 percent of surveyed households were eating only one meal a day, while 38 percent had reduced the number of meals they ate each day. Seventeen percent of households restricted adults’ food intake daily to prioritise children.

Three‑quarters of surveyed households reported difficulties accessing markets, citing cash shortages and high food prices as the main barriers. Food access remains severely constrained because of Israeli restrictions on the entry of goods. The daily average number of trucks entering Gaza since the ceasefire was 217, according to the World Food Programme, far below the 600 trucks per day that were agreed under the ceasefire agreement.