Israeli strike on Gaza port kills at least seven, including a child
An Israeli drone attack on a cafe in the port area west of Gaza City on Tuesday killed at least seven Palestinians, including a child, and left one body so mutilated that health workers could not identify the victim, according to Gaza health officials.
Most of the injured, including those in critical condition, were transferred to al-Shifa Hospital, which reported that it had received six bodies and 13 wounded, one of whom succumbed to their injuries later in the evening.
The hospital said one victim appeared to have taken a direct missile hit, with the body shredded beyond recognition.
Al Jazeera Arabic said the intensity of the strike pushed a number of the injured and dead into the sea, meaning the real number of casualties may be higher.
Recovery efforts are currently underway.
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Mohammed Alghoul, an eyewitness to the event, told AFP that “Israeli warplanes fired two missiles at the ‘Sweet and Bitter’ cafe on the fishermen’s port west of Gaza City”.
In a post on Telegram, the Israeli military said that they carried out a “precise aerial strike” against “several Hamas commanders” in the Shati area, west of Gaza City.
The army said that the group was planning an attack against Israeli forces operating in the strip and so were “attacked from the air to remove the threat to the forces”, adding that “steps were taken to mitigate harm to civilians”.
They did not comment on the child who was killed, or provide evidence to substantiate their allegations against those targeted.
Hamas has said in a statement that the strike, which they described as a "massacre", demonstrates Israel's “disregard” for US President Donald Trump’s calls to maintain the “ceasefire” deal, calling on mediators to pressure Israel “to commit to the ceasefire deal” and the peace roadmap already agreed upon.
The attack comes only one day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved the next stage of the US-led “Board of Peace” plan for the enclave, calling discussions with the delegation led by US special envoy and Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, “deep and constructive”.
The agreement includes demands that Hamas fully disarm in exchange for an Israeli withdrawal from the territory.
Israel originally rejected Trump’s 15-point plan after Hamas agreed to disarm and hand over its control of the Gaza Strip to a technocratic body.
As of Monday, the death toll in Gaza was reported to be at least 73,399, with 174,310 injured, since the start of Israel’s genocide in October 2023, according to medical sources, including 1,265 killed since the “ceasefire” agreement signed between Israel and Hamas in October 2025.
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