GAZA CITY / JENIN: Israeli strikes killed five people in Gaza on Friday, authorities in the Palestinian territory said, in the latest day of attacks despite international appeals to move ahead on a peace plan.

The civil defence agency, which serves as a rescue service under Hamas, said that the bodies of three people were recovered in pieces after Israeli strikes in the town of Al-Qarara, east of Khan Yunis.

Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis named the three people and said they all belonged to the same family, with two aged 42 and one aged 28.

Israeli military claims it targeted Hamas fighters in rare occupied West Bank air strike

Gaza authorities later reported two additional deaths, including in a drone attack near Gaza City.

West Bank strike

The latest deaths came the same day that Israel carried out a rare air strike in the occupied West Bank, killing a Palestinian it described as a Hamas fighter as well as two of his accomplices.

The strike targeted a car in the area of Jenin in the northern West Bank, the Israeli military and medics said.

The Israeli military identified the target as Qais Bitawi. Hamas also confirmed his death and condemned the strike. Islamic Jihad said in a statement Bitawi was a senior operative of its armed wing.

The West Bank has seen a surge in militant Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians as well as military raids into Palestinian towns. The northern West Bank, where Jenin sits, was the site of a major Israeli assault last year, which the military says was aimed at targeting Palestinian fighter strongholds.

The Palestine Red Crescent ambulance service said Israeli ground troops raided the site of the drone strike, briefly detained medics and prevented them from transporting those wounded or killed to hospital.

Israel’s military did not immediately provide comment on the ambulance service’s statements.

Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2026