Israeli Strikes Gaza — Israeli air and drone strikes killed at least seven Palestinians across Gaza on Tuesday, with the deadliest single attack striking the Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.
Five people died in the Maghazi drone strike, according to the civil defence agency and Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. The attack is believed to have targeted Palestinians who had confronted an alleged Israeli-backed armed group operating in the eastern part of the camp. That armed group subsequently withdrew safely from the area following the strike.
Israel carried out several additional air strikes in the aftermath of the initial Maghazi attack, one of which hit a family home in the camp, compounding the toll on civilian infrastructure in the densely populated area.
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In southern Gaza, at least two more Palestinians were killed when an Israeli strike hit a vehicle in Khan Younis. Several others sustained wounds in that attack, according to medical personnel on the ground.
Israel has acknowledged supporting armed groups opposed to Hamas during its ongoing military campaign in Gaza. Those groups have conducted operations in parts of the territory still under Hamas control in recent months. Critics contend the strategy has been used to intimidate Palestinian civilians and deepen instability in areas where Hamas retains influence.
The strikes occurred against the backdrop of a fragile ceasefire that came into effect in October, brokered through intensive diplomatic efforts by the United States and Qatar. Despite the agreement, the violence has not ceased. More than 900 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire took hold, while Israel’s military reports that four Israeli soldiers have been killed by Palestinian armed groups during the same period.
Israel launched its war on Gaza in October 2023, following a Hamas-led attack on Israeli territory. The conflict has since killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and reduced large swaths of Gaza’s urban landscape to rubble, triggering one of the most severe humanitarian crises in the region’s modern history.
The timing of Tuesday’s strikes — falling on Eid al-Adha, one of the most significant holidays in the Islamic calendar — drew particular attention. For many Palestinian families in Gaza, the holiday passed not in celebration but amid the sound of drones and the aftermath of airstrikes.
Israeli Strikes Gaza: Regional Implications
The use of proxy armed groups as a tactical instrument within Gaza has added a new and volatile dimension to the conflict. By backing factions opposed to Hamas, Israel has sought to erode the movement’s control from within, but the approach has raised serious concerns among humanitarian observers about the safety of civilians caught between competing armed actors.
The Maghazi refugee camp, like much of central Gaza, has endured repeated strikes throughout the war. Hospitals and civil defence teams in the area have been stretched beyond capacity, with Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital among the few medical facilities still functioning in the region.
As the death toll from Tuesday’s attacks was confirmed, Gaza’s civil defence teams continued to work through the rubble of the family home struck in the follow-on raids at Maghazi, searching for survivors and casualties beneath the debris.
