CAIRO — At least six Palestinians were killed Sunday in Israeli airstrikes and gunfire across the Gaza Strip, according to health officials, even as international mediators intensified their push to keep a U.S.-brokered ceasefire alive.
Medical workers reported that an Israeli airstrike claimed the lives of at least four people near Al-Yeman Al-Saeed Hospital in the Jabalia refugee camp, located in the northern part of the enclave. Two additional deaths were recorded in separate shooting incidents — one in Khan Younis in the south and another in Gaza City. The Israeli military offered no immediate response to requests for comment on the incidents.
The bloodshed unfolded as mediators from Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey concluded a week of negotiations with Hamas and other Palestinian factions. Those talks centered on moving forward with the second phase of U.S. President Donald Trump’s Gaza plan, which calls for Hamas to lay down its weapons and for Israel to pull its forces out of the territory.
A truce brokered by Trump in October 2025 has so far failed to put a full stop to Israeli military operations in Gaza or to achieve the disarmament of Hamas fighters. Health officials say Israeli strikes have killed more than 950 people since the truce took effect, while Israel reports that four of its soldiers have been killed by militants during the same period.
Hamas places the blame for the ongoing conflict on what it describes as Israel’s failure to meet obligations agreed upon in October — a deal that paused major combat operations but did not bring Israeli attacks to a complete halt. Israel, for its part, maintains that its strikes are carried out to prevent imminent attacks by Hamas and other militant groups.
On Sunday, Hamas and allied factions announced they had submitted a written response to a 15-point framework put forward by the mediators and Trump’s Board of Peace, though they did not disclose the specifics of their answer. Sources familiar with the negotiations indicated the factions agreed to 14 of the 15 points, with the remaining sticking point being the question of Hamas disarmament. Hamas has said it will only consider full disarmament if a political process toward establishing a Palestinian state is set in motion.
Israel has maintained a firm stance that Hamas must disarm completely, relinquish control of Gaza, and have no part in shaping the territory’s future.
