Over 1,100 Palestinians killed since Gaza ceasefire, officials say, as truce halts major fighting but not violence
Mother of Palestinian child Muataz Abu Shaar, who was killed by Israeli fire, according to medics, and other mourners carry his body during his funeral in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, July 14, 2026.PHOTO: REUTERS
An Israeli strike and gunfire killed at least nine Palestinians, including a 10-year-old boy and a senior Hamas police officer, in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, Gazan health and police officials said.
The deaths add to a toll of more than 1,100 Palestinians killed by Israeli attacks since an October ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect, according to health officials in the enclave. The truce halted major fighting but has failed to stop sporadic violence.
Four Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza over the same period. Medics said Muataz Abu Shaar, 10, was shot on Tuesday by Israeli gunfire in Rafah, southern Gaza.
Read More: Israeli attacks in Gaza kill five people, including a girl, say medics
Senior Gaza police officer killed
In Jabalia, in northern Gaza, an Israeli airstrike on a post of the police force killed at least seven people, including a woman, and wounded several others, medics and police officials said.
The Hamas-led interior ministry said in a statement that those killed included the head of the Jabalia police force, Colonel Mohammad Marwan Salem, along with other officers. Israel has stepped up attacks against Hamas security personnel and police posts, killing dozens of them since October, according to police sources. Israel wants Hamas to cede control of Gaza and disarm, while the group has said it is ready to relinquish power but has resisted calls to lay down arms.
Read More: UN official says Hamas is obstructing aid in Gaza
In Khan Younis, southern Gaza, an Israeli airstrike killed a 36-year-old man and wounded three others, medics said. The Israeli military said it struck a Hamas member. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the Rafah or Jabalia incidents.
Talks on Trump peace plan
The latest violence comes as Hamas leaders visited Cairo for further talks on implementing the second phase of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan. The discussions include Hamas disarmament and Israeli army withdrawals, according to sources close to the talks, who said little progress had been made in recent weeks towards reaching a broad agreement to end the conflict.
Hamas says Israeli violations of the ceasefire are a key obstacle to implementing the second phase of Trump’s plan. Nearly all of Gaza’s two million people, most of whom have been displaced several times, now live on a narrow strip of land along the coast, mainly in makeshift tents or damaged buildings, under Hamas control.
Hamas-led fighters killed 1,200 people during their cross-border attack into Israel on October 7, 2023, according to Israeli tallies. Gaza’s health ministry said more than 73,000 Palestinians have been killed in the territory since then.
