Medics Say Israeli Fire Killed at Least Seven in Gaza on Tuesday, Including a Father and 13-Year-Old Son; IDF Says It Struck Militants

Status: The death tolls below are attributed to Palestinian medical officials and emergency services. The Israeli military said it struck militants or "terror operatives." AFNS has not independently verified either account, and the two have not been reconciled.

On Tuesday, medics said an Israeli airstrike hit the roof of a displacement shelter in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City, killing Fadi Rajab and his 13-year-old son, Abubakr, Reuters and the Times of Israel reported. The Hamas-run Civil Defense agency also described the victims as a boy and his father, ToI reported.

Local officials and emergency services described additional Tuesday deaths: a strike near a school or home in the Daraj neighborhood, gunfire in Khan Younis, and a later strike on a metal foundry or workshop in Sabra, Reuters and ToI reported. Those accounts put the day's toll at at least seven. Some later roundups, including Al Jazeera, cited a slightly different total as reports came in. The hospitals that received the bodies confirmed the fatalities they were given, ToI reported, citing AFP.

The Israeli military, asked about the Tuesday incidents, said it had "struck terror operatives in several areas," without further detail, ToI reported. Reuters reported that the military said it struck militants in Zeitoun and Daraj and did not immediately comment on Khan Younis or Sabra. Hamas-run figures do not distinguish civilians from people Israel identifies as militants, ToI noted.

The Associated Press reported that Israel struck Gaza twice on Wednesday, killing three Palestinians — one in a strike in Gaza City and two in a later strike, according to Shifa Hospital — and that the Israeli military said both strikes targeted military operatives.

A U.S.-brokered ceasefire that took effect in October 2025 has not ended the fighting. Negotiators remain stuck on Hamas disarmament and an Israeli withdrawal, Reuters reported.

On the separate flooding emergency, AP reported that Netanyahu rejected accusations that Israel is to blame for the flood crisis in Gaza. The IDF has said more than 91,000 tents and thousands of trucks of supplies have entered the territory, a figure discussed in Board of Peace Calls Gaza Flooding an Immediate Humanitarian Emergency.