Israeli strike kills three more people in Gaza

Published March 18, 2026 Updated March 18, 2026 07:16am

CAIRO: An Israeli air strike killed at least three people including a child in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, local health authorities said, the latest violence jeopardising the ceasefire which has been under strain during the Israeli-US war against Iran.

Medics said the air strike targeted a vehicle in the western area of Khan Yunis, south of the enclave, killing three people, including a child, and wounding 12 other people. There was no immediate Israeli comment.

Israel’s military has continued to strike Gaza during the regional war with Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon. On Sunday it killed 12 people in Gaza, including nine police officers in one strike that Israel said targeted a Hamas cell. The military has cited threats or fire from Hamas as the reason for its attacks.

Israel’s assault has since killed more than 72,000 Palestinians, Gaza’s health authorities say, including more than 670 since a ceasefire was reached last October. Gaza health officials said at least 40 people have been killed by Israeli fire since the United States and Israel launched joint attacks on Iran at the end of February.

Three sources said on Monday that envoys from US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace have met representatives of Hamas in Cairo in an effort to safeguard the October Gaza ceasefire, which has come under serious strain.

A Palestinian official with knowledge of the Cairo talks said that Hamas believed Israel was exploiting the war on Iran to slip away from its obligations under Trump’s plan. Israel rejects this.

Published in Dawn, March 18th, 2026

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