At least four Palestinians were killed and several others wounded after an Israeli air strike hit a tent housing displaced civilians in the Al Mawasi area of Khan Younis, southern Gaza, on Monday, according to Palestine’s official Wafa news agency. Another man later died from injuries sustained in an earlier strike on the same area, Wafa reported.
The Al Mawasi zone has been one of the primary locations where thousands of displaced families sought shelter after being forced from their homes during months of conflict.
The Israeli military said the strike targeted a Hamas militant whom it accused of planning an imminent attack on Israeli forces operating in southern Gaza. In a statement, the military said the individual posed an immediate threat and was “precisely struck” in an area it said was under Hamas control.
Despite a US-brokered ceasefire that came into effect in October, Israel has continued to conduct limited air strikes in Gaza. Israeli officials say these operations are aimed at preventing attacks and dismantling militant infrastructure.
According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, 422 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire began, highlighting the fragile nature of the truce. During the same period, Gaza-based militants have killed three Israeli soldiers, Israeli officials said.
Under the first phase of the ceasefire agreement, brokered by US President Donald Trump, Israel retains control of 53 per cent of Gaza, while Hamas agreed to hand over all living hostages and the remains of those killed in exchange for the release of Palestinians held in Israeli detention.
Hamas has yet to return the remains of one hostage, an Israeli police officer killed during the October 7, 2023 attack, when militants crossed from Gaza into Israel, killing 1,200 people and abducting around 250 others, according to Israeli figures.
Israel’s military response has resulted in the deaths of more than 71,388 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to Gaza health authorities. Vast areas of the enclave remain devastated, with the majority of Gaza’s more than two million residents displaced, living in tents, makeshift shelters, or damaged buildings in areas from which Israeli forces have withdrawn.
Earlier on Monday, Gaza authorities said a father and son were killed when their home collapsed after sustaining structural damage in a previous Israeli strike, underscoring the continuing dangers faced by civilians even away from active combat zones.
