Israeli strike hits tent in central Gaza, killing three, including a child

Israeli forces struck a tent sheltering displaced people in the central Gaza Strip on Monday (June 29, 2026), killing at least three Palestinians, including an 8-year-old boy and his grandfather, medical officials said.

Health authorities in the coastal enclave said the drone strike hit a neighborhood in Deir al-Balah, one of the least damaged towns in central Gaza. Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital said the fatalities were Hassan al-Hanagra and his 8-year-old grandchild, Malik Abu Shawish, along with another man. Abu Shawish, whose parents are divorced, was visiting his mother’s tent at the time of the strike, and his mother was among seven people wounded in the strike, hospital officials said.

Israel’s military said the strike was targeting a militant, but did not immediately name him or say if he was killed.

Separately, in a strike on Sunday in southern Gaza, the military said it killed Zaher Abu Salem, who it said was a member of Islamic Jihad and was involved in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel that triggered the war. Sunday (June 28) saw a flurry of strikes around Gaza that killed four people, including a 13-year-old girl, Eileen al-Farra, who was hit by shrapnel from Israeli tank shelling and was buried on Monday (June 29).

Palestinian teenager killed by Israel in West Bank

In a separate incident, Israeli forces fatally shot a 15-year-old Palestinian teenager during a raid in the occupied West Bank on Monday (June 29), the Palestinian health ministry said, as violence surges in the Israeli-occupied territory.

“The child Amir Ahmad Jawad Jaber, 15 years old, was martyred after being shot in the head and once in the chest by occupation soldiers during their raid into the Umm al-Sharayit neighbourhood in Al-Bireh,” near the West Bank city of Ramallah, the ministry said.

There was no immediate response from the Israeli military when asked by AFP about the incident.

Israeli troops at the archaeological site of Sebastia in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on June 29, 2026.
| Photo Credit:
Reuters

Near-daily strikes in Gaza

While the heaviest fighting has subsided since a ceasefire took hold in October, Israeli forces have carried out near-daily strikes, killing 1,045 Palestinians, including more than 360 women and children, according to health officials in Gaza. Israel says it is targeting militants, often saying they were planning attacks on Israeli troops who hold more than 60% of the Gaza Strip. Five Israeli soldiers have been killed in militant attacks since the ceasefire.

The Gaza Health Ministry, which is part of the Hamas-led government, maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by UN agencies and independent experts. But it does not give a breakdown of civilians and militants.

Israel’s campaign in Gaza has killed more than 73,058 Palestinians, including those killed since the ceasefire, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack on Israel killed some 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage.

(With inputs from AP, AFP)