Fresh Israeli airstrikes and targeted gunfire resulted in the deaths of at least six Palestinians across the Gaza Strip on Sunday, Palestinian health officials confirmed. This deadly surge in violence comes at a crucial juncture as international mediators increase diplomatic efforts to preserve a fragile ceasefire brokered by the United States.
Medical personnel reported that an Israeli airstrike struck near Al-Yeman Al-Saeed Hospital in the Jabalia refugee camp, located in northern Gaza, killing at least four people. In separate incidents, two more Palestinians lost their lives in Gaza City and Khan Younis, a southern urban center. The Israeli military has yet to release an official statement regarding the operations conducted on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the violence erupted shortly after regional mediators from Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey concluded a week of intensive consultations with Hamas and other Palestinian factions. These discussions focused on implementing the second phase of US President Donald Trump’s comprehensive Gaza plan, which calls for the complete disarmament of Hamas in return for a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from the territory.
The initial ceasefire, brokered by the Trump administration in October 2025, has struggled to prevent recurring Israeli military actions or to finalize the disarmament of militant groups within Gaza. Hamas leadership has repeatedly criticized Israel for failing to meet its first-phase commitments under the October agreement, which managed to halt large-scale military operations but did not stop localized attacks.
Conversely, Israel asserts that its ongoing strikes are preemptive actions aimed at neutralizing imminent security threats posed by Hamas and allied factions. Since the truce, Israeli airstrikes have killed more than 950 Palestinians, while Israel reports that four of its soldiers have been killed by militants during the same period.
On Sunday, Hamas and other factions submitted a written response to a 15-point proposal presented by the mediators and the US Board of Peace, though they did not disclose the details. Sources close to the negotiations indicated that the factions agreed to 14 of the 15 points, with the main disagreement centered on Hamas’s disarmament. Hamas links any full disarmament to the initiation of a political process aimed at establishing a Palestinian state.
Israel maintains that Hamas must disarm, relinquish control over Gaza, and be excluded from any future governance of the territory.
