CAIRO, July 14 (Reuters) – An Israeli strike and gunfire killed at least two Palestinians, including a 10-year-old boy, in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, Gazan health officials said.
The deaths add to a toll of more than 1,100 Palestinians killed by Israeli attacks since an October ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect, according to health officials in the enclave.
The truce halted major fighting but has failed to stop sporadic violence. Four Israeli soldiers have been killed by militants in Gaza over the same period.
Medics said Muataz Abu Shaar, 10, was shot earlier on Tuesday by Israeli gunfire in Rafah, south Gaza. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Nearby in Khan Younis, an Israeli airstrike killed a 36-year-old man and left three people wounded, medics added.
The Israeli military did not immediately comment on either incident.
The latest violence comes as Hamas leaders visited Cairo for further talks on implementing the second phase of U.S. President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan.
The discussions include Hamas disarmament and Israeli army withdrawals, according to sources close to the talks, who added that there had not yet been a breakthrough.
Hamas says Israel’s violations of the ceasefire are a key obstacle to implementing the second phase of Trump’s plan.
Nearly all of Gaza’s 2 million people, most of whom have been displaced several times, now live on a tiny strip of land along the coast, mainly in makeshift tents or damaged buildings, under Hamas control.
Hamas-led fighters killed 1,200 people during their cross-border attack into Israel on October 7, 2023, according to Israeli tallies. The Gazan health ministry said more than 73,000 Palestinians have been killed in the territory since then.
(Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi, editing by Andrei Khalip)
