At least seven Palestinians, among them two women, were killed on Saturday when an Israeli airstrike struck a large tent encampment in central Gaza City, health officials and medics reported. Medical teams also said 15 people were wounded in the attack, including children.
An Israeli military spokesperson said the armed forces had carried out a strike that targeted "terrorists" but gave no additional detail about the operation.
The incident occurred as mediators restarted discussions in Cairo with Hamas and other Palestinian factions aimed at preserving a strained ceasefire arrangement. The talks are intended to address implementation of an initial phase of the accord and to explore conditions for a second phase that would include issues such as Hamas disarmament and withdrawal of Israeli troops, but indirect negotiations over that next stage have been stalled.
Egypt has opened its capital to a new round of truce talks that sources close to the negotiations said were expected to continue for a few days. Leaders from Hamas and several other Palestinian groups are taking part, according to those sources. Hamas has told mediators - including Egypt, Qatar, Turkey and envoys of Trump’s Board of Peace - that halting Israeli attacks in Gaza is essential for any forward movement in the talks, participants and sources close to the negotiations said.
Hazem Qassem, a Hamas spokesperson in Gaza, said the Cairo discussions would concentrate on Israel’s compliance with the first phase of the deal and on finding shared ground for how to move toward the second phase.
Hamas has set out specific demands for progress: an end to Israeli strikes, increased access for humanitarian aid into Gaza and Israeli withdrawal to the ceasefire lines. Gaza health officials report that since the truce began, roughly 950 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes. The Gaza authorities note that they do not frequently detail the status of deaths among fighters associated with Hamas.
Over the same timeframe, Israel’s military has reported that four of its soldiers were killed by militants. Israeli officials say the strikes are intended to prevent imminent attacks and maintain that they permit aid and goods to enter Gaza.
The broader conflict has produced far greater casualty figures since it began. Gaza health authorities report that nearly 73,000 people in the territory have been killed since the war began, and they say most of those killed were civilians. Israel has said that Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people and captured 251 Israeli and foreign hostages in attacks on October 7, 2023.
Context and outlook
The new diplomatic push in Cairo aims to re-establish momentum behind a ceasefire framework whose first phase has not prevented recurring Israeli operations inside Gaza. Negotiators face competing priorities: Israel’s stated security objectives and Hamas’s insistence on ending strikes and expanding humanitarian access before agreeing to steps toward disarmament and troop withdrawals. The resumption of talks comes against a backdrop of continuing violence, illustrated by the fatal strike on Saturday.