Israeli strikes kill 13 in Gaza, threaten to unravel ceasefire

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Mourners carry the body of a Palestinian who, according to medics, was killed in Israeli strikes on Thursday, outside Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, January 9. —Reuters
Mourners carry the body of a Palestinian who, according to medics, was killed in Israeli strikes on Thursday, outside Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, January 9. —Reuters

CAIRO: Israeli strikes killed 13 Palestinians in separate strikes in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, medics said while revising the earlier death toll from seven.

An Israeli airstrike killed four people and wounded three others, including children, in a tent in the western area of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip. Another strike killed a person east of the city, near where Israeli forces operate.

Later on Thursday, a man was killed in an Israeli strike on a school sheltering displaced families in Jabalia, northern Gaza, while another strike killed a person in a tent near Deir al Balah, in central Gaza Strip.

Four other people were killed in a separate strike in the Zeitoun neighbourhood of Gaza City.

The Israeli military said it struck several “rocket launch pits” after a rocket was launched from Gaza City toward Israel. The military said the rocket fell short and landed by a hospital in Gaza and accused Hamas of violating the ceasefire.

The ceasefire agreed in October has not progressed beyond the first phase, under which major fighting stopped, Israel withdrew from less than half of Gaza and Hamas released prisoners in return for Palestinian detainees and convicted prisoners.

Under future phases yet to be hammered out, US President Donald Trump’s plan envisages Hamas disarming, Israel pulling out further and an internationally backed administration rebuilding Gaza.

No progress made

But little progress has been made on the next steps. More than 400 Palestinians and three Israeli soldiers have been killed since the ceasefire took effect, and nearly all of Gaza’s more than two million people now live in makeshift homes or damaged buildings in a sliver of territory where Israeli troops have withdrawn and Hamas has reasserted control.

Published in Dawn, January 10th, 2026

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