Israeli attacks kill four as famine risk looms in Gaza

What Happened

In the past 24 hours, Israeli attacks across Gaza killed four Palestinians, including a child, according to Gaza hospitals and Wafa. A young girl was killed by Israeli gunfire near the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, Wafa reported. Al Jazeera's Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Gaza City, said a strike on a vehicle in the Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood killed one person and seriously injured another, and a separate strike killed a man on a bicycle in Khan Younis. The Gaza Health Ministry reported that a fourth person died on Thursday of wounds sustained earlier in an Israeli strike. The Israeli military is also expanding its territorial control inside Gaza: Al Jazeera maps show nearly two-thirds of the territory is under Israeli military control or subject to access restrictions, with troops taking more land since the October ceasefire and moving from northern Gaza inward to the centre and westward. The Gaza Health Ministry says at least 1,538 Palestinians have been killed and 5,498 injured since the ceasefire took effect in October, and more than 74,400 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since October 2023.

Key Actors

Why It Matters

The simultaneous lethal strikes and reported territorial expansion suggest that the October ceasefire framework has not halted Israeli military consolidation inside Gaza. With Al Jazeera mapping nearly two-thirds of the Strip under Israeli control or access restrictions and close to two million people living in shrinking, rubble-filled areas, the reported rise in casualties and inability of residents to return home deepen Gaza's humanitarian crisis. The adjacent famine risk, linked to aid cuts and shipment restrictions, compounds the strategic significance of continued military activity and displacement.

Watch For

Monitor further casualty updates from the Gaza Health Ministry and any Israeli military statements on the reported land expansion. Watch whether international donors restore funding to WFP after its reported cuts to aid for 500,000 Palestinians, and whether aid shipments resume amid the restrictions. Track responses from ceasefire mediators Qatar, Egypt, and the United States, as well as any new access restrictions or return movements in northern Gaza, including around Jabalia and Tal al-Hawa.