Eight killed in Israeli strike near market in Gaza Strip

Image caption, Bodies were moved from Al-Awda Hospital morgue for burial after an Israeli strike targeted civilians gathered outside the hospital to bury other Palestinian bodies, in Jabalia, Gaza, Palestine, on July 17, 2026

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Health officials in Gaza reported that an Israeli airstrike on Friday killed eight people near a market in the center of the Strip, while the Israeli army said it targeted a 'terrorist cell'.

Hamas and Israel trade accusations of violating the ceasefire announced in October 2025, two years after the outbreak of the war that began in October 2023.

Israel continues almost regular aerial and artillery bombardments in the Strip, more than 60 percent of which it occupies, resulting in deaths, injuries, and further destruction amid a severe humanitarian crisis.

Civil Defense said Friday that eight people were killed in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, while Al-Awda Hospital confirmed receiving the bodies of the victims and also received 22 wounded from the strike.

Civil Defense spokesman Mahmoud Basal told AFP that the strike occurred during a funeral procession.

The Israeli army confirmed carrying out the strike, saying it 'hit a terrorist cell belonging to the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization in central Gaza Strip.'

It added that 'the army is aware of claims that many uninvolved individuals were harmed as a result of the strike, and the results of this strike are being reviewed.'

Civil Defense in the Strip and hospitals reported the deaths of five others in separate Israeli strikes on Friday.

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Among the dead were two women and the man in whose funeral eight people were killed in Nuseirat.

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Since the ceasefire agreement came into effect, at least 1,127 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to the Strip's Health Ministry, which the United Nations considers its information reliable.

In contrast, the Israeli army announced the killing of five soldiers and one civilian contractor during the same period.

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