Israeli strikes kill two people in Gaza, medics say

CAIRO, July 7 - Israeli strikes killed at least two Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, the territory's health officials said.

Medics said an Israeli airstrike had killed a man and wounded two children in the Mawasi area of Khan Younis in southern Gaza. The Israeli military told Reuters they had targeted a Hamas militant.

Later on Tuesday, another Israeli airstrike hit near a tent encampment housing displaced families, killing one person and wounding five others, medics said.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment on this incident.

Israel has repeatedly carried out strikes in Gaza since a U.S.-mediated ceasefire with Hamas was reached last October, saying it is targeting militants who threaten its forces or who took part in the October 2023 attack on Israel.

Hamas has accused Israel of violating the ceasefire. Nikolay Mladenov, U.S. President Donald Trump's appointed Board of Peace envoy to Gaza, has said both sides have violated the agreement.

Since the ceasefire took effect eight months ago, more than 1,070 Palestinians, many of them civilians, and four Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza, according to figures released by the two sides. Hamas does not disclose the number of its fighters killed.

Israeli troops control more than 60% of Gaza, patrolling what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu describes as a buffer zone to deter Hamas attacks. Netanyahu says Israel will not withdraw from the territory.

Israel's devastating aerial and ground bombardment of Gaza displaced nearly the entire population of 2 million people, most of whom now live in tents or damaged buildings in a narrow coastal strip of territory governed by Hamas. REUTERS