Gaza: Israeli Fire Kills Four, Including a Child

Israeli attacks killed four Palestinians, including a child and a woman, in central and southern Gaza on Thursday, according to medical sources and Arab media outlets. Several others were wounded. The reported deaths came as Israeli forces carried out drone strikes, fired directly, shelled with artillery and demolished homes and civilian facilities.

Fire on homes and tents

At dawn, an Israeli drone fired two missiles at a tent sheltering displaced people west of az-Zawayda. Abdul Rahim Walid Matar, 27, was killed, medical sources at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah said. A source at al-Awda Hospital said Israeli fire killed a child in Bureij refugee camp. Al Jazeera correspondent Ashraf Amra, reporting from Deir el-Balah, said Israeli forces opened fire directly on homes and tents in eastern Bureij. The child died on the spot.

Amra said Israeli forces on the edges of the area overlooking al-Mawasi were also firing heavily toward tents sheltering displaced people. A man inside his tent suffered critical wounds and was taken to Nasser Medical Complex for surgery. An Israeli drone also struck a gathering of residents in the al-Baraka area of Deir el-Balah, wounding several people; one was critically wounded.

Nasser Medical Complex said Israeli fire outside areas under Israeli military control in Khan Younis killed a woman and wounded two people. Medical sources told Al Jazeera that a drone strike at Az-zawaya killed another person, bringing the reported death toll to four. In each account, civilians came under fire in or near homes, tents and places where residents had gathered.

A ceasefire with reported violations

In northern Gaza, a source at al-Shifa Hospital told Al Jazeera that a drone strike on an apartment in al-Karama, northwest of Gaza City, wounded a Palestinian. Israeli artillery heavily shelled eastern Gaza City, while naval vessels fired toward the coastline. Local sources reported heavy fire from Israeli military vehicles around the Hosni al-Musaddar Mosque east of Maghazi camp and a drone bomb dropped nearby. No injuries were reported there.

Residents east of Khan Younis reported two powerful explosions as the army blew up homes and civilian facilities in areas it controls. Amra said Israeli forces were also advancing on the eastern edges of al-Musaddar and Deir el-Balah, bulldozing homes and farmland and taking more land behind the so-called "Yellow Line." The reported operations reach into residential areas and change who can use land and buildings.

On Wednesday, Gaza's Health Ministry said three Palestinians had been killed and 21 wounded in the previous 24 hours. One of those killed had died of earlier wounds. The ministry said 1,602 Palestinians had been killed and 5,794 wounded since the ceasefire took effect on October 11, 2025. It put the overall toll since October 2023 at 74,618 killed and 175,920 wounded.

Gaza's Government Media Office said Monday that Israel had committed 5,989 ceasefire violations since the truce began. It reported 753 violations in October: 346 shootings, 310 bombardments and 64 home demolitions. Those figures come from Gaza's Government Media Office, while medical sources, local sources and Al Jazeera reported the specific incidents described above. The ceasefire is in place, but people are still being killed and wounded by fire as homes and farmland are demolished or bulldozed.