Conflict & Security
Gaza strikes kill 13, civil defence says
Gaza's civil defence rescue service said Israeli strikes killed at least 13 people on Sunday, after attacks hit several residential buildings and other targets while Hamas said it had agreed to the latest stage of a plan to end the war.
The rescue service, which operates under Hamas authority, said eight people were killed in strikes around midnight and five others were killed later in the day.
A civil defence spokesman said a man and his wife were killed and several others wounded when an Israeli military helicopter struck an apartment near the central Gaza Strip. He said an elderly man and a child were killed in another attack on an apartment west of Gaza City, and three people, including a child, were killed in a strike on a residential building northwest of Khan Younis.
The spokesman said one person was killed and four others injured in an Israeli drone strike near a camp for displaced people in Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza. He said a couple and their child were killed in a dawn strike on an apartment west of Gaza City, adding that the woman was pregnant.
Two others were killed in an Israeli drone strike on their vehicle in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, the spokesman said. Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Hospital said they were brothers.
Hamas said Friday it had agreed to a plan backed by US President Donald Trump that includes provisions for handing over its weapons and the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip. Israel has not officially commented on the agreement. An Israeli political source told AFP there would be no withdrawal without Hamas's "genuine disarmament".
Hamas politburo member Ghazi Hamad condemned Sunday's strikes and said they showed Israel did not want to reach an agreement.
Nickolay Mladenov, High Representative of the Board of Peace, said the latest strikes compromised diplomatic efforts toward implementing the plan. He wrote on X that two days of strikes had killed civilians and destroyed medical supplies people depend on.
Gaza authorities had reported on Saturday that eight people were killed in strikes that damaged a hospital's medical supplies and targeted a rooftop. The Israeli army said two of those strikes targeted members of the Army of Islam and Islamic Jihad militant groups.
Update
Nickolay Mladenov said the latest strikes compromised diplomatic efforts toward implementing the US-backed Gaza plan.
Hamas politburo member Ghazi Hamad condemned the strikes and said they showed Israel did not want to reach an agreement.
Source note: AFP news report published on 2 August 2026 at 19:50:26 UTC.
Update
Gaza's civil defence rescue service said five more people were killed later Sunday, bringing the reported toll from the Sunday strikes to at least 13.
One person was reported killed and four injured in a drone strike near a displaced people's camp in Jabalia refugee camp.
A couple and their child were reported killed in a dawn strike on an apartment west of Gaza City; the woman was pregnant, according to the civil defence spokesman.
Two people were reported killed in an Israeli drone strike on their vehicle in Deir al-Balah; Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Hospital said they were brothers.
Source note: AFP news report published on 2 August 2026 at 14:50:07 UTC.
Update
Gaza civil defence officials said overnight Israeli strikes around midnight Sunday killed at least eight people.
Officials said the overnight strikes hit multiple residential buildings.
Authorities said eight other people had been killed earlier Saturday in strikes that damaged hospital medical supplies and targeted a rooftop.
The new item gives specific overnight strike locations near the central Gaza Strip, west of Gaza City and northwest of Khan Younis.
Source note: AFP news report published on 2 August 2026 at 02:28:41 UTC.
Update
Gaza's civil defence agency said seven people were killed across the Gaza Strip since dawn Saturday.
Civil defence spokesman Mahmoud Basal said two people were killed in a strike on a rooftop southwest of Gaza City.
The civil defence agency said two people were killed when Israel hit near a pharmacy northwest of Gaza City.
Witnesses in Gaza described guarded hope and fear after Hamas said it agreed to the latest stage of a deal to end the war.
Source note: AFP news report published on 1 August 2026 at 18:55:15 UTC.
Update
The Israeli military said it struck five Hamas weapons depots in the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli military later said it struck a weapons storage facility adjacent to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, which it said was used as a hideout by Hamas members.
Hamas political bureau member Bassem Naim said the ball was in Israel's court and called on mediators to pressure Israel to halt what he called violations and breaches of the ceasefire.
Source note: AFP news report published on 1 August 2026 at 15:24:27 UTC.
Uncertainty notes
The Sunday casualty toll and strike details are attributed to Gaza's civil defence service and hospitals.
Israel did not confirm each reported Sunday strike in the supplied information.
Source
AFP news report published on .