Israeli Strikes in Gaza Reportedly Kill Eight People Including a Child Despite Prior Ceasefire

Israeli strikes in Gaza killed at least eight Palestinians on Sunday, 1 November 2026, including a four-year-old boy, according to hospital officials and Gaza's Hamas-run interior ministry. Three died in Gaza City, while five police officers were reported killed in Al-Mawasi, near Khan Younis. The deaths came after a US-brokered ceasefire took effect.

The truce began in October 2025 after the war that followed the Hamas-led attack on Israel on 7 October 2023. That attack killed about 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage, according to Israeli figures. The ceasefire framework included hostage and Palestinian prisoner releases.

The deaths underline the ceasefire's fragility. In October, the United Nations said attacks and displacement had continued, with more than 1,400 Palestinians reported killed since the ceasefire announcement. The UN verified 1,076 conflict-related deaths through July.

Child Among Those Killed in Gaza City

Hospital officials said a strike hit a gathering in Gaza City's Al-Rimal neighbourhood, killing three people, including the child. The circumstances and status of those killed could not be independently established from available accounts at publication.

Footage outside Shifa Hospital showed mourners praying beside body bags. AFP reported that Ali Oweis, whose son and grandchild were killed, said they were sitting in a tent when a missile struck.

'My son and his child were martyred', Oweis told AFP. He said there was 'no ceasefire' and that 'the war is ongoing'. His account reflects one bereaved relative's experience and has not been independently verified.

AFP reported the casualty details and eyewitness account on 1 November. Hospital officials and local authorities supplied the death toll, while the Israeli military gave a different account.

Five Police Officers Reported Killed in Southern Gaza

Gaza's Hamas-run Interior Ministry said a drone strike in Al-Mawasi, west of Khan Younis, killed five police officers on duty. It identified the men and called the attack a 'horrific massacre'. That phrase is the ministry's characterisation, not an independently established finding.

At Nasser Hospital, video showed body bags as women wept. The Israeli military told AFP it had targeted a terrorist in southern Gaza and several others in the north, and was examining the results. Reuters reported that the military said it struck several militants in Khan Younis but did not immediately comment on Gaza City.

The competing accounts leave important questions unresolved at this stage. Gaza officials described the dead as a child, civilians and police officers; Israel said it targeted militants. Neither account should be treated as independently confirmed in full.

Gaza's Health Ministry reported on 31 October that 1,580 people had been killed since the ceasefire and that the overall toll since October 2023 had reached 74,594. These ministry figures do not establish the status of every person counted.

Reuters reported that negotiations remain stalled over Hamas disarmament and an Israeli troop withdrawal. The continued deaths highlight the gap between the ceasefire's stated aims and conditions on the ground. For families mourning in Gaza's hospitals, the agreement has not ended the fear of further attacks.