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

CAIRO: 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, as the Israeli military escalated the bombardment of houses over the past two days.

The Israeli military didn’t immediately comment on the attack in the town of Beit Lahiya. An October 2025, US-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 US 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 also says Hamas violates 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.

Hamas does not usually disclose information about fatalities among its fighters.

The Israeli military struck at least six homes across the enclave 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 said on Wednesday it had hit three areas across the Gaza Strip and dismantled three Hamas weapons storage facilities used to hold explosive devices, anti-tank missiles among other equipment.

On Tuesday, Israeli security forces dismantled another three weapon depots belonging to Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the military said.

They were used to store rockets and rifles, as well as containing a rocket launch pit, it added.

On Sunday, the military said it killed three militants, from Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

Ismail Al-Thawabta, director of the Hamas-run Gaza government media office, denied Israeli allegations saying that Israel’s targets were “the civilians and their homes.”