Palestinian civilians were killed after Israeli strikes hit Gaza, medics say. Two children and a woman died in western Gaza City following shelling and air strikes, and a third child was killed in a separate incident in central Gaza, Palestinian medical sources report.
Local accounts, not independently verified, say an Israel-backed Palestinian militia carried out a raid that was later discovered, prompting the Israeli military to respond with drone attacks and artillery. Early footage from Gaza City showed chaotic street scenes, the sound of gunfire and the aftermath of air strikes. A local source told correspondents a senior Hamas security official was believed to have been targeted.
Initial reports also described a small unit moving into a crowded area using a van and motorcycles. It remains unclear whether those involved were members of Israeli forces or of the Israel-backed militia. The Israeli military said it struck several targets "in order to remove threats to the security forces" and added that none of its troops were injured.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz announced that a senior Hamas official had been arrested, but he did not say whether that arrest was connected to the clashes in Gaza City. A car photographed after the strikes was left destroyed in the Rimal neighbourhood, consistent with images showing damage and street-level destruction.
The killings add to recent reports of civilian deaths across Gaza amid ongoing operations. Videos and eyewitness statements from the area captured the immediacy of the violence, but independent verification of the sequence of events that led to the strikes remains limited.
At present the relationship between the reported militia raid, the subsequent Israeli strikes, and the arrest Katz announced is unclear, and officials have not provided a full public account tying those events together. Further statements from military authorities and on-the-ground verification will be needed to clarify what happened and whether more arrests or operations will follow.
