Gaza rescuers say Israeli fire killed seven

Gaza's civil defence rescue service said seven people were killed in separate Israeli strikes and fire on Thursday, October 8, while the Israeli army said three of those targeted were “military operatives”.

Six of the seven reported deaths were in Gaza City. The rescue service and Al-Shifa hospital said two people were killed in a drone strike on a car and one person was killed in a drone attack on a tent in an encampment for displaced people.

The civil defence service said two people, a woman and a child, were killed when Israeli aircraft bombed a residential building in Gaza City. Health officials said another woman was killed by artillery shelling in the city. The civil defence service also reported that one person was killed by Israeli fire southeast of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza.

The Israeli army told AFP that the three people targeted were “military operatives in terrorist organizations”. It said it was checking the reports about the other four victims.

Hamas also denied Israeli accusations that it uses Gaza hospitals for military activities, after the Israeli army said militants had advanced attacks from inside Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza. Hamas called the accusations “criminal incitement”.

The war began after Hamas launched its October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. Israel's offensive in Gaza has displaced nearly all of the territory's population and killed more than 74,200 people, according to Gaza's health ministry, which is under Hamas authority and whose figures the United Nations considers reliable. The ministry's figures do not distinguish between militants and civilians.

Since a ceasefire was declared in October 2025, Israeli forces have killed at least 1,450 people in Gaza, according to the ministry. The Israeli military has declared the deaths of five soldiers and one civilian contractor in the same period.