Israeli Strikes on April 24 Kill Dozens Across Gaza Amid Fragile Ceasefire

On Friday, April 24, 2026, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) launched a series of air and artillery attacks in the Gaza Strip. A strike on a police vehicle in the Al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis killed eight people, including four members of the Hamas-run police force. Separate attacks hit a police patrol in Gaza City (three dead, two of them police) and residential homes near Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya (two civilians killed). Local witnesses said the strikes occurred without prior warning.

ReutersThe Straits TimesTimes of IsraelIsraeli strikes in Gaza kill at least 13, officials say

Gaza’s interior ministry reported eight fatalities in Khan Younis, three in Gaza City, and two in Beit Lahiya, for a total of 13 deaths. The health ministry’s casualty list confirmed twelve identified victims and one unidentified 12-year-old. Reuters counted at least twelve deaths, while the civil-defence agency cited nine. Police casualties totalled four in Khan Younis and two in Gaza City; civilian deaths included three children and a pregnant woman.

The IDF said the Khan Younis strike targeted a “police vehicle that had become a security threat” and that the Gaza City attack aimed at “armed Hamas terrorists operating adjacent to our troops.” Hamas’ interior ministry condemned the attacks as “complicity with the Israeli occupation” and called for international intervention. Gaza’s health ministry, citing hospital data, maintained that the toll reflects “ongoing violations of the ceasefire.” Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis confirmed the eight-person death toll.

ReutersThe Straits TimesRTE (Radio Television of Ireland)

Hamas spokespersons described the Friday attacks as “the horrific massacre” and accused Israel of deliberately breaching the October ceasefire by targeting civilian police officers. The interior ministry warned that “the continued silence of international organisations … constitutes complicity,” urging the United Nations to act. Local NGOs and families also denounced the lack of prior warning and the targeting of non-combatants.

Casualty figures differ across sources: Reuters (12), Hamas civil-defence (13), and other outlets (9). Israeli officials provided detailed justification for only the Gaza City strike, remaining silent on the Khan Younis and Beit Lahiya incidents. Independent verification is limited by media restrictions and the destruction of infrastructure, leaving several details unconfirmed.

L'Orient-Le Jour

• “With the first shell, thank God we all survived and were calling out to each other. Then they fired the second, third and fourth shells one after the other. Their voices fell silent. I went inside and found my wife, Islam Al-Tanani, martyred, and my son, Hamza, and Naya in her mother’s arms. I found them martyred.” — Khalid Al-Tanani, Beit Lahiya resident

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• “I rushed outside and found them lying on the ground, martyred.” — Amna al-Abed, mother of Abdullah and Salah al-Abed

• “The continued silence of international organisations … regarding the targeting of civilian police officers constitutes complicity with the Israeli occupation, encouraging it to commit further crimes against a civilian institution protected under international law,” — Hamas Interior Ministry spokesperson

• “barbaric Zionist attacks that reached all parts of the Gaza Strip since this morning” — Hamas spokesman

The strikes undermine the October ceasefire that halted large-scale combat in 2023, raising the risk of renewed hostilities. Targeting of police personnel—an institution protected under international law—intensifies humanitarian concerns and fuels accusations of war crimes. The deaths of children and a pregnant woman exacerbate the already severe civilian suffering and strain aid delivery.

The U.S.-brokered “Board of Peace” is slated to meet later this month to assess ceasefire compliance. Hamas has urged the United Nations to launch an investigation, while humanitarian agencies call for unrestricted aid corridors and protection of civilian infrastructure.