Israeli Strike in Gaza Kills Father, Mother, and Their Six-Year-Old Daughter

Israeli attacks killed 12 Palestinians in Gaza over 24 hours, according to the Health Ministry

An Israeli strike on Wednesday hit an apartment in central Gaza, killing a man, his wife, and their six-year-old daughter, as the IDF continues its constant violations of the US-backed ceasefire deal.

The attack in Deir el-Balah also injured a boy, who is the sole survivor of his family. “The ​child is the lone survivor. How (to live) without a father, without a mother? What kind of cruelty is this that the people of Palestine, the ​people of Gaza, are enduring?” a relative told Reuters while mourning the family at the al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.

The Israeli military took credit for the attack, claiming without evidence that it targeted a “Hamas militant.” Another Israeli strike hit the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City, killing at least one person and wounding several others.

A man carries Palestinian boy Sami Abu Qassem, who was wounded in an Israeli strike that killed his parents and sister, leaving him the sole survivor of his family, at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, July 15, 2026. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa

Gaza’s Health Ministry said in its daily update on Wednesday that Israeli attacks over the previous 24-hour period killed at least 12 Palestinians and wounded 18. Israel has ramped up its strikes in Gaza since Hamas announced last Monday that it was dissolving its government, a move that was an attempt to get the US to pressure Israel to actually follow the ceasefire deal.

Since the agreement was signed, the IDF has killed at least 1,123 Palestinians in Gaza and wounded 3,616, according to the Health Ministry. “A number of victims are still under the rubble and in the streets, as ambulance and civil defense crews have been unable to reach them so far,” the ministry wrote on Telegram.

Israel claims Hamas has violated the deal by refusing to disarm, but the agreement signed in October 2025 didn’t commit Hamas to laying down its weapons. That issue and a full Israeli withdrawal were supposed to be worked out in follow-up negotiations, which have stalled due to Israel’s refusal to implement the ceasefire.

While Hamas’s refusal to disarm is the new pretext for Israel’s continued occupation and attacks, Israel Defense Minister Israel Katz said this week that Israel won’t withdraw from Gaza even if Hamas does disarm, and said the plan is to establish three “Nahala outposts,” a type of Jewish settlement that starts with IDF soldiers and is meant to establish a permanent civilian community.

Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar.com, follow him on Twitter @decampdave.

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