Israeli strikes kill at least eight in Gaza despite truce talks

Israeli strikes killed at least eight people in Gaza overnight, even as Donald Trump said the Board of Peace had reached an agreement for the “complete disarmament” of Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza. The deaths came during a stretch of intense fighting that has continued despite signs of movement in U.S.-backed talks.

Gaza’s Civil Defence Authority said Israeli military aircraft hit residential buildings in Gaza City, Khan Younis and Deir el-Balah. Palestinian officials said at least eight people were killed, while early reports on the same strikes put the death toll at seven, eight or nine as information from the strip changed through the morning.

The Israeli military said it was targeting military operatives. In Deir al-Balah, it said the strikes aimed at two Hamas Nukhba commanders, and it said strikes in Gaza City and Jabalia also targeted military operatives, with the situation still under review. The focus on commanders and operatives stood in direct contrast to the Civil Defence Authority’s account that residential buildings were hit.

The latest bloodshed followed a Trump-backed disarmament proposal announced on July 30 and 31. A senior Hamas official told the BBC the group had agreed in principle to the Board of Peace’s proposal in return for the gradual withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip. France 24 also reported that Hamas had accepted a deal that would lead to disarmament in exchange for phased Israeli withdrawal.

But the strikes did not stop after the announcement. Reuters reported on August 1 that Israeli strikes killed at least four people in Gaza despite Trump’s claim of a breakthrough. Earlier in July, Israeli strikes killed 12 Palestinians, including six members of one family, underscoring how little relief diplomacy has delivered for civilians on the ground.

Palestinian and humanitarian reporting also said the August 1 and 2 strikes hit medical supply warehouses in central Gaza, raising further concern for already strained health services and relief stocks. With residential blocks, warehouses and alleged militant targets all in the firing line, the gap between negotiated terms and conditions inside Gaza remained wide.