Israeli attacks kill at least 21 people in Gaza, medics say
News Mania Desk / Piyal Chatterjee / 26th June 2025
On Thursday, local health officials reported that Israeli gunfire and airstrikes resulted in the deaths of at least 21 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, as mediators contacted Israel and Hamas to negotiate a restart of ceasefire discussions to conclude the conflict.
Local health officials reported that an Israeli airstrike claimed the lives of at least nine individuals at a school accommodating displaced families in the Sheikh Radwan area of Gaza City, while another strike resulted in nine deaths near a tent camp in Khan Younis, located in the southern part of the enclave.
Additionally, three other individuals were shot dead by Israeli fire and many were injured as crowds gathered for U.N. aid trucks along a key route in central Gaza, according to medical sources, marking the latest in a series of significant casualties at aid distribution sites. The Israeli military did not provide an immediate response to the incidents that occurred on Thursday. Israel claims it aims to eradicate Hamas militants who launched an attack in southern Israel from Gaza in 2023 and to rescue hostages still held by the organization.
The latest fatalities occur as Arab mediators, Egypt and Qatar, supported by the United States, contacted the conflicting sides in an effort to facilitate new ceasefire discussions, although no specific timing was established for a new session, as per Hamas sources. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, heading a coalition with far-right groups, demands that Hamas, governing Gaza for almost two decades, free all hostages, abandon any influence, and surrender its weapons to conclude the conflict.
Hamas has declared it would free the hostages if Israel consents to a lasting ceasefire and pulls out of Gaza. Although it has acknowledged that it will no longer control Gaza, Hamas has declined to engage in talks about disarmament.
Militants affiliated with Hamas killed nearly 1,200 individuals and captured 251 hostages during their assault on Israel on October 7, 2023.
