Israeli strike on Gaza police post kills senior Hamas officer, seven others

An Israeli airstrike on a Hamas-run police post in Jabalia killed at least seven people, including Col Mohammed Marwan Salem, the head of the local police force. An Israeli drone fired four missiles at the post near a busy market in northern Gaza, and the site stood in a crowded area close to tents sheltering displaced people and temporary evacuation centres.

The police force that was hit helps manage daily order in Jabalia. Israel’s military treats Hamas-linked security structures as militant targets and says its strikes are aimed at thwarting Hamas operatives.

On the same day, 10-year-old Muataz Abu Shaar was killed by Israeli gunfire in Rafah in southern Gaza. An Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis killed a man and wounded three others. At least nine Palestinians were killed across the enclave, including Salem and Abu Shaar, as violence persisted despite the ceasefire that took effect in October 2025.

Israel’s military struck a Hamas operative in Khan Younis and did not immediately comment on the Jabalia and Rafah incidents. The latest deaths came as Hamas leaders were in Cairo for talks on the second phase of Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan, including Hamas disarmament and Israeli withdrawals.

Both sides have accused each other of near-daily violations of the truce. Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry says at least 1,110 people have been killed by Israeli fire since the ceasefire began, while the Israeli military says four of its soldiers have been killed in Palestinian attacks.

The broader war began after Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage. Gaza’s health ministry says Israel’s military campaign has since killed more than 73,230 people in the Gaza Strip.

In June 2026, the United Nations Human Rights Office recorded at least 12 attacks against police since January, killing more than 53 civilians, including 35 police personnel, five boys and one woman. The office cited earlier police-related strikes on 23 May in Al Tawam, Gaza City, and on 24 April at Al Mawasi camp west of Khan Younis.