Gaza health officials say Israeli port strike kills six

Gaza health officials said an Israeli airstrike killed six people at Gaza City's port on Tuesday, including a child, while the Israeli army said it had targeted several Hamas commanders.

Mahmoud Bassal, a spokesperson for Gaza's civil defence agency, which operates under Hamas authority, told AFP that at least six people were killed and many others wounded in a raid on tents of displaced people at the port.

Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City said it received five bodies and 13 injured people, one of whom died later in the evening. Eyewitness Mohammed Alghoul told AFP that Israeli warplanes fired two missiles at the Sweet and Bitter cafe at the fishermen's port west of Gaza City.

The Israeli army said it carried out a precise aerial strike against several Hamas commanders who it said had planned attacks against Israeli troops operating in the Gaza Strip. It said steps were taken to reduce harm to civilians. In a separate statement, the military said it struck a meeting of commanders from Hamas's elite fighting units, including one person it said took part in the October 7, 2023 attack that sparked the Gaza war.

Hamas condemned the strike, saying it showed Israel's disregard for calls for a ceasefire by mediators and guarantor states, including comments by President Trump in a Fox News interview the previous day.

Israeli media reported that the army has curbed operations in Gaza in recent days under US pressure and has only been carrying out strikes to remove imminent threats to its troops or to target people who participated in the October 7, 2023 attack.

The strike came a day after White House envoy Jared Kushner met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who reiterated that an Israeli army withdrawal would take place only after Hamas is fully disarmed. Hamas, whose leader Khalil al-Hayya met Kushner on Sunday, has said it is committed to the US-sponsored peace plan and has demanded that Washington pressure Netanyahu to adhere to it.