Medical sources said Israeli soldiers killed seven Palestinians, including a child and a woman, and injured many others in several parts of the devastated and besieged Gaza Strip.
Three Palestinians, including one woman, were killed and several others injured near Deir al‑Balah in central Gaza.
According to medical teams, an Israeli drone fired a missile at an electric bike near the al‑Musaddar village, killing two Palestinians. They added that a woman was also killed by fire from an Israeli military quadcopter in the same village.
Four Palestinians were also killed in an Israeli assassination strike that targeted an apartment in the al‑Nasr neighborhood of Gaza City, as Israeli forces continued widespread bombardment, home demolitions, and ground fire across several areas of the Strip.
An Israeli Apache helicopter fired a missile at the apartment, killing four Palestinians from the town of Beit Hanoun, including a young girl and her father.
The victims were identified as Ibrahim al‑Za’anin, Ahmad Sweilem, Lamia Shabat, and her father Atiyya Shabat. The Israeli army claimed it was targeting a commander in the al‑Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas.
Earlier in the morning, two Palestinians were shot and wounded by advancing Israeli tanks in the al‑Zaytoun neighborhood, southeast of Gaza City. Medical sources said the two were struck near the Shawwa station area.
Israeli occupation forces also continued demolishing homes in eastern Gaza City, accompanied by heavy artillery fire, while military vehicles opened fire east of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. The army carried out two additional large‑scale demolitions east of Khan Younis as part of its ongoing operations.
Amid the intensified military activity, a senior Israeli officer from the “Alexandroni Brigade” said the army is certain that no tunnels extend from Gaza into Israel, asserting that current efforts focus on destroying what he described as the remaining underground infrastructure within areas under Israeli control.
Israeli media quoted the officer as saying that technological systems now allow for precise detection and monitoring underground, and that the threat of tunnels crossing into Israel is “almost nonexistent.”
He added that the army has “deployed several defensive lines along the yellow line,” and that forces are “preparing for potential infiltration attempts from areas filled with rubble, including the use of drones.”
The officer said rules of engagement have been adjusted to increase the “precision of force use.”
He also referenced a confrontation two weeks ago during a nighttime operation in which a company commander was wounded, after which the army announced the killing of two Palestinian fighters.
Another senior Israeli officer said Hamas maintains a high level of operational readiness, with tactics resembling those of Hezbollah’s Radwan forces, though he claimed the group is not currently conducting large‑scale offensive operations.
He added that any fighter crossing the “yellow line” is immediately targeted, describing the area as strategically indispensable for Israel.
Health authorities in Gaza warned that laboratory and blood‑bank services are on the verge of shutting down due to the depletion of medical supplies, stressing that the ongoing Israeli blockade has pushed hospitals into severe shortages.
Officials said the lack of essential testing materials poses a direct threat to patients’ lives, a crisis documented by Al Jazeera from inside the al‑Shifa Medical Complex.
Six Palestinians were killed on Monday in Israeli strikes on central and northern Gaza. Since the announcement of the ceasefire agreement in October, 587 Palestinians have been killed and more than 1,550 wounded in Israeli attacks.
The Ministry of Health in Gaza reported that the cumulative toll since October 7, 2023, has reached 72,032 Palestinians killed and more than 171,661 injured, reflecting the scale of destruction and the continued collapse of humanitarian conditions across the Strip.
