Israeli strikes kill five in Gaza Strip: medics
At least five Palestinians have died in the Gaza Strip in Israeli strikes, health officials say, as ceasefire efforts aimed at ending the conflict between Israel and the Hamas militant group have been disrupted.
In the weeks since it halted a joint US bombardment on Iran, Israel has stepped up attacks in the Gaza Strip, where Hamas has tightened its grip even though Israeli troops control more than half of the territory.
Health officials said that in the Israeli attack, one Palestinian was killed near the police station and the other was killed in the tent camp in Khan Younis in the south of the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli army announced that a militant who posed a direct threat to forces in the region was killed.
Separately, Gazan medics said another Israeli airstrike killed at least three people in a public kitchen near Al Aqsa Hospital in Deir Al-Balah, in the center of the region.
I promised to return all our hostages, and we returned them all. Each of the architects of the massacre and hostage taking will be eliminated, down to the last one, and we are very close to completing the mission. All Statements > >https://t.co/Y9s3ypNJoM pic.twitter.com/VlsOruSlWw— Israeli Prime Minister (@IsraeliPM) 17 May 2026
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israeli forces have expanded their control in the Gaza Strip after the cabinet meeting held in Jerusalem on Sunday.
According to Netanyahu’s office, “We now hold 60 percent of Gaza, not 50 percent. Hamas is under our control.” he said.
“We know exactly what our mission is, and our mission is one: to ensure that Gaza never poses a threat to Israel again, and we fulfill this mission with the help of our heroic soldiers,” he said.
On Saturday, the Israeli military said Izz al-Din al-Haddad, the leader of Hamas’ armed wing, was killed in a decisive attack on Gaza City on Friday.
Hamas confirmed Haddad’s death but stopped short of threatening revenge.
The Israeli military said it also killed Hamas Operations Headquarters commander Bahaa Baroud in an airstrike on Saturday and accused him of planning several attacks against soldiers and Israeli civilians in recent weeks.
The military said Baroud posed an immediate threat and was targeted with a precision strike, adding that measures had been taken in advance to reduce harm to civilians, including the use of precision munitions and aerial surveillance.
Gaza health officials said Baroud was killed along with another person in an airstrike targeting their car in Gaza City.
Israel and Hamas are deadlocked in indirect talks to advance US President Donald Trump’s post-war plan for the Gaza Strip, which aims to end a more than two-year disarmament struggle with the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the area.
870 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since the October ceasefire, according to figures that do not distinguish between combatants and civilians.
During the same period, four Israeli soldiers were killed by militants.
Hamas does not release figures on casualties among its fighters.
with DPA
