CAIRO/JERUSALEM: An Israeli airstrike killed at least two Palestinians in Gaza City on Sunday, health officials said.

Medics said the two people were killed when an airstrike hit a group of people at the Omar Al-Mokhtar road in the heart of the city, north of the enclave. Several others were wounded, they added.

Israel has repeatedly carried out strikes on Gaza since a US-mediated ceasefire with Hamas was reached in October last year, saying that it is targeting fighters threatening its soldiers in Gaza or those who took part in that 2023 attack.

Hamas has accused Israel of violating the ceasefire, while Nikolay Mladenov, the US President Donald Trump-appointed Board of Peace envoy to Gaza, has said both parties have violated the agreement.

Tel Aviv appoints first-ever resident ambassador to Slovenia

Israel and Hamas are deadlocked in indirect talks over implementing the second phase of the ceasefire deal, which includes the group’s disarmament and Israeli army withdrawals.

Since the ceasefire took effect eight months ago, over 1,060 Palestinians, many of them civilians, and four Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza, according to figures from each side. Hamas does not disclose its fatality figures.

Slovenia diplomatic reset

Israel said on Sunday it has named its first-ever resident ambassador to Slovenia, signalling a diplomatic reset after Ljubljana’s change of government.

Ties between Israel and Slovenia had soured under the previous centre-left government of prime minister Robert Golob, which had characterised Israel’s military offensive in Gaza as “genocide”.

But ties have warmed significantly since conservative Prime Minister Janez Jansa took office. Israel’s foreign ministry announced that Ruth Cohen-Dar — until now non-resident ambassador to Slovenia and Malta — will become the country’s first permanent envoy in Ljubljana.

The move follows Israel’s decision last month to open an embassy in Slovenia.

“The decision to establish the embassy was made after many years of a downturn in relations between Israel and Slovenia, and following the formation of a new government in Slovenia headed by Janez Jansa, a friend of Israel,” the ministry said.

Published in Dawn, July 6th, 2026