Israeli Strikes in Gaza Kill 12, Including Family of Six

At least 12 Palestinians were killed in three separate Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip, including six members of one family, local medics said.

Video shared from Gaza City overnight showed an apartment building in flames in the western al-Sabra neighbourhood. Medics said the strike killed the family of six, with the BBC identifying the brother of Firas al-Masri as saying they were trapped and burnt to death.

Firas al-Masri’s brother told the BBC that Firas was killed alongside his wife, Salsabeel, and their three daughters and son: Faryal, Salma, Amira and Naim.

Israeli military says target was Hamas operative

The Israeli military said its target was a Hamas operative and that it was still examining the outcome of the attack. No Israeli comment was provided on the deaths reported in the other two strikes that followed later.

On Tuesday afternoon, four people were killed in an Israeli air strike on a home in the al-Samar area of central Gaza City, Palestinian media reported, citing medics.

Two more people were killed in a separate Israeli drone strike on a vehicle in the al-Zahra area to the south of Gaza City, medics said.

The Israeli military had not commented on the air strike or the drone strike by the time of reporting.

Death toll since ceasefire and attacks in Gaza

According to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, at least 1,168 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect last October.

In the same period, four Israeli soldiers were reported killed in Palestinian attacks in Gaza.

The UN human rights office condemned the intensification of Israeli military attacks in Gaza on Tuesday.

Spokesman Thameen Al-Kheetan said that between 13 and 20 July, at least 57 Palestinians were killed in strikes on residential buildings, a tent camp for displaced families and other crowded areas. He said the victims included six children and eight women.

Al-Kheetan also said that 34 of those people were “killed far away” from the so-called Yellow Line, a boundary that marks territory in Gaza controlled by Israeli forces.

“Nine months after the announcement of a ceasefire, still, nowhere is safe for Palestinians in Gaza,” Al-Kheetan said. He added that the deaths of civilians “raises concerns of continuing violations of international humanitarian law, war crimes and other possible atrocity crimes in Gaza”.

Background to the campaign

The Israeli military has said it has carried out recent attacks targeting members of Palestinian armed groups, which it said were involved in the Hamas-led attack on Israel on 7 October 2023. During that attack, about 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage, according to Israeli and other reported figures.

Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza after the 7 October attacks. The Gaza health ministry said that more than 73,290 people have been killed in the conflict.

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22 July 2026