GAZA — At least four Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes and gunfire across the Gaza Strip, including a 10-year-old girl and the son of Gaza’s director-general of health, according to Palestinian health officials and medical sources.
The reported deaths came as violence continued across Gaza despite a U.S.-backed ceasefire that took effect in October 2025.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said the 10-year-old girl died from wounds sustained earlier Saturday after Israeli army fire north of the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza. The ministry operates under the Hamas authorities governing the territory.
In northern Gaza, an Israeli airstrike killed Baseer Al-Bursh, the son of Munir Al-Bursh, director-general of Gaza’s Health Ministry, the ministry said. The younger Al-Bursh was killed in an encampment for displaced Palestinians in Jabalia, according to the ministry.
Reuters separately reported that Al-Bursh was among at least three Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes on Saturday. The Israeli military said it had targeted several militants, including Al-Bursh, but did not provide further details about the operation.
Two additional Palestinians were reported killed in separate strikes near Gaza City, according to Al-Shifa Hospital and Gaza’s civil defence service. Several other people were wounded.
Different reports, slightly different casualty count
The difference in reported numbers is important.
The Straits Times, citing AFP, reported at least four deaths, including the 10-year-old girl, while Reuters initially reported three Palestinians killed in strikes on Saturday. The discrepancy appears to reflect different counting periods: the Gaza Health Ministry said the child died from wounds sustained in an earlier attack, while Reuters’ account focused on people killed in strikes reported on Saturday itself.
Al Jazeera also reported four Palestinian deaths in the wider wave of attacks, saying three people were killed on Saturday and another died from injuries sustained Friday. It reported that an Israeli drone strike on a vehicle in Gaza City’s Sheikh Radwan area killed one person and wounded at least four others, including two children.
The Israeli military had not immediately responded to AFP’s questions concerning the specific strikes reported by Gaza health officials. In a separate account cited by Reuters, however, Israel said it had targeted militants in the Gaza Strip.
Violence continues despite ceasefire
The latest deaths add to a continuing pattern of deadly incidents in Gaza despite the ceasefire agreement reached in October 2025.
Reuters reported that more than 1,300 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire took effect, according to Gaza health officials. Israeli authorities have reported the deaths of Israeli soldiers during the same period.
The broader war began after the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, in which about 1,200 people were killed and around 250 people were taken hostage, according to Israeli figures cited by international news agencies. Israel subsequently launched a large-scale military campaign in Gaza.
Gaza’s Health Ministry says more than 73,000 Palestinians have been killed since the beginning of the war. AFP reported that United Nations officials regard the ministry’s overall casualty figures as generally reliable, although the ministry operates under Hamas-controlled authorities and does not distinguish in its headline totals between combatants and civilians.
A ceasefire that has not ended the violence
The continued strikes highlight the fragile nature of the Gaza ceasefire.
Israel has maintained that its military operations are aimed at Hamas and other armed groups and has said it will continue taking action against threats to its forces. Hamas, meanwhile, has continued to operate as Gaza’s governing authority and has disputed Israeli military claims surrounding individual attacks.
The latest incidents also come amid stalled efforts to move from a ceasefire toward a longer-term political and security arrangement. Reuters reported that reconstruction efforts remain limited, with disagreements including Hamas’ disarmament and the future withdrawal of Israeli forces.
For Palestinians living in Gaza, however, the latest deaths underscore a continuing reality: even after the reduction in the intensity of the wider war, airstrikes, gunfire and military operations continue to claim lives.
And with the status of the ceasefire still dependent on unresolved security and political issues, the latest casualties could become another test of whether the fragile truce can hold.
