The Israel Defense Forces said Friday it was investigating a strike in Gaza City, which reportedly killed at least five people, including civilians.
According to the military, during operations on the Israeli side of the ceasefire line in the Strip’s north, troops spotted several suspects in “dominant structures” on the western side of the Yellow Line — meaning not in IDF-held territory.
The army said the troops fired at the suspects following their identification, but didn’t say that they were armed or how they posed a threat.
Gaza’s Hamas-run civil defense agency said it recovered five bodies killed in an artillery strike at a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City’s eastern Tuffah neighborhood.
The agency said the majority of the victims were children and that others were injured. The deaths could not be independently verified.
Spokesman for the agency, Mahmud Bassal, accused by Israel of being a Hamas operative, said that “five martyrs have been recovered as a result of the Israeli shelling of the shelter at the Gaza Martyrs School,” in the Tuffah neighborhood east of Gaza City.
The IDF said that it was “aware of casualties in the area,” noting that the incident was under further investigation.
“The IDF regrets any harm to uninvolved [civilians] and acts as much as possible to minimize harm to them,” the military added.
The Israeli strike could amount to a violation of the US-brokered ceasefire agreement that went into effect in October.
The ceasefire remains fragile with both sides alleging violations, and mediators fearing that Israel and Hamas alike are stalling.
US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, met officials from Qatar, Egypt and Turkey in Florida on Friday, hoping to salvage efforts to reach the second stage of the deal.
“Our people expect these talks to result in an agreement to put an end to ongoing Israeli lawlessness, halt all violations and compel the occupation to abide by the Sharm El-Sheikh agreement,” Hamas political bureau member Bassem Naim told AFP.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry said on Thursday that at least 395 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the territory since the ceasefire came into effect on October 10. However, the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters.
Israel has also repeatedly accused Hamas of violating the ceasefire, with three soldiers killed in Gaza since the truce entered into force.
Noam Lehmann contributed to this report.
