ISRAELI OCCUPIED GAZA, 16 July. - (ANA) - Israeli strikes killed at least five Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, as a US-based research group reported a surge in Israeli attacks to levels not seen since the latest so-called 'ceasefire' took effect in October.

 

Medics said an Israeli airstrike killed two people near the Tuffah neighbourhood in the north of the enclave, while a third person was killed in Israeli tank shelling in the Zeitoun suburb in eastern Gaza City.

 

Another airstrike at a tent encampment for displaced people in western Gaza City killed one person and wounded several, while an attack on a vehicle in Khan Younis, in the south, killed another, medics said.

 

Witnesses also reported that an airstrike hit a residential building in Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza.

 

Conflict monitor ACLED, which tracks Israeli attacks in Gaza, said air and drone strikes against Hamas and other militants increased to more than 40 in June, the highest monthly total since the ceasefire.

 

"With polls showing the opposition in the lead, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing growing domestic pressure to take a tougher security position against Hamas," ACLED Middle East Assistant Research Manager Nasser Khdour said, referring to Israel's legislative election in October.   - (ANA) -

 

AB/ANA/16 July 2026 - - -