Israeli Airstrikes Kill Five Palestinians In Gaza, Including 7-Year-Old Girl

Israeli airstrikes killed five Palestinians, including a seven-year-old girl, across the Gaza Strip on Monday, October 26, as Gaza’s Civil Defence reported 13 deaths and around 60 people wounded by Israeli fire and airstrikes over a 24-hour period.

The latest deaths were reported in Khan Yunis and Gaza City, with three people killed in a strike on a camp housing displaced Palestinians in Al-Mawasi. The casualties come amid continued violence following a United States-brokered ceasefire that took effect in October 2025.

Civil Defence spokesman Mahmoud Bassal told AFP that rescuers had recovered three bodies from the Al-Mawasi strike, including that of a child.

“We transported three martyrs, including a child, following an Israeli airstrike targeting a camp for displaced people in the Al-Mawasi area, west of Khan Yunis,” Bassal told AFP.

Israel’s military told AFP it was “not aware” of any military activity in the area on Monday.

Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis confirmed the three deaths. The hospital said, “Their bodies were torn apart by direct hits from shrapnel from the Israeli missile.” It also reported treating several wounded people, including a woman and a child.

According to AFP, the hospital identified the deceased as Hossam al-Zamli, Tamer Abu Sneima and Jouri al-Soufi. Gaza’s education ministry said al-Soufi was seven years old.

Two further fatalities were reported in separate attacks. Gaza’s Civil Defence said an airstrike hit a tent sheltering displaced Palestinians near Khan Yunis, killing one person. In Gaza City’s Rimal neighbourhood, another airstrike killed one person and wounded three, according to Al-Shifa Hospital.

Israeli military vehicles advance near Deir al-Balah

Israeli tanks and other military vehicles also moved into an area in central Gaza on Monday morning, according to a security source in the territory cited by AFP.

The source said several tanks and military vehicles, accompanied by a military bulldozer, advanced into an area west of the Yellow Line in eastern Deir al-Balah. The movement was accompanied by “heavy gunfire by the occupation forces towards the eastern and northern areas” of the city, the source added.

Hundreds of displaced families live in Deir al-Balah.

The Yellow Line was established under the ceasefire that came into effect in October 2025, dividing areas under Israeli control from those under Hamas control. Israeli-controlled areas account for more than 60% of the Gaza Strip.

More than 1,500 killed since ceasefire began

Gaza’s health ministry has reported more than 1,500 deaths in the territory since the ceasefire took effect in October 2025.

The war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on southern Israel, killing 1,221 people, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Israel responded with a military campaign that has destroyed much of Gaza. More than 74,500 people have been killed in the territory since the war began, according to Gaza’s health ministry.

The ministry operates under Hamas, and its casualty figures are considered accurate by the United Nations.