Israeli strikes kill 12 in Gaza despite ceasefire, renewing police target scrutiny

Israeli airstrikes killed at least 12 people across Gaza over two days despite the ceasefire. The attacks, including a strike on police in Jabaliya, have deepened scrutiny over Israel's targeting during the truce.

In Short

• Deaths were reported in central, southern and northern Gaza locations
• Hospital officials said a family, police officers, a man and child died
• Israel claimed four slain officers were Hamas militants but offered no evidence

Israeli airstrikes in Gaza have killed at least a dozen people over the past two days, local health officials said on Wednesday, as attacks continue almost daily despite a months-old ceasefire with Hamas. The deaths were reported in central and southern Gaza, as well as in the Jabaliya refugee camp in the north.

Among those killed were three members of one family in central Gaza, a woman, six police officers, a man and a child, according to hospital officials. The Israeli military said four of the police officers killed in Jabaliya were Hamas militants, but it did not provide evidence or say what role they had in planning or carrying out attacks.

Al Aqsa Hospital officials said three members of a family were killed in central Gaza on Wednesday. On Tuesday, hospital officials said an airstrike on a police station in the densely populated Jabaliya refugee camp killed a woman and six police officers. Nasser Hospital officials said a man was killed in the bombing of a tent camp in Khan Younis in the south, while hospital officials also reported that Israeli forces shot dead a child in the Muwasi area outside Rafah.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the strikes in central and southern Gaza. In a statement on the Jabaliya strike, it said police stations are considered legitimate targets if they are "being used to advance military activities, or if those present are military operatives involved in advancing terrorist activities". It did not say what military activities it believed were taking place at the Jabaliya police station and did not provide evidence that attacks were being planned there.

The Hamas-run Interior Ministry identified one of the officers killed as Col. Mohamad Marwan Salem, a senior police commander and head of the Jabaliya police station. Hamas, which ruled Gaza for years, has an armed wing as well as civilian police and security services overseen by its Interior Ministry. Hamas says the police force is engaged in maintaining law and order. Throughout the war, Israel has targeted local police, including those guarding humanitarian aid convoys.

Israeli attacks on Gaza's police have been condemned by the United Nations human rights office, which said last month that police personnel had been attacked at least a dozen times in 2026, including "during ordinary law enforcement operations, including directing traffic and patrolling streets and markets". In a June 3 statement, it said, "The pattern of attacks raises concerns that Israeli forces apply no distinction between police personnel and fighters belonging to armed groups in Gaza."

Ofer Guterman, a researcher at Israel's Institute for National Security Studies, said Israel's targeting suggests it sees parts of Hamas' policing apparatus as closely integrated with its military infrastructure, including through dual-role personnel and the use of facilities for weapons storage, operations and logistics.

The fragile ceasefire deal in October was meant to halt the two-year war between Israel and Hamas, but violence has continued. Gaza's Health Ministry said at least 1,123 people have been killed in the territory since the ceasefire took effect. The ministry, which has been part of the Hamas-led government, keeps detailed casualty records that UN agencies and independent experts generally regard as reliable. It does not give a breakdown of civilians and militants, but says women and children make up most of the dead.

Israel says its strikes are in response to shooting attacks by militants and other violations, and five Israeli soldiers have been killed since the ceasefire. The war began after the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed around 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage. Gaza's Health Ministry said Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed more than 73,264 Palestinians, including those killed since the ceasefire.

In sum, the latest Israeli strikes have added to the toll in Gaza even as the ceasefire remains in place, with deaths reported across the territory, questions over strikes on police targets and the wider war continuing to claim lives on both sides.

With PTI Inputs

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