Gaza, February 15, 2026: Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israeli strikes killed at least 12 people since dawn on Sunday, as Israel and Hamas traded accusations of violating a fragile ceasefire that entered its second phase last month.
Despite the US-brokered truce, violence has persisted across the Palestinian territory. Israel has said the latest attacks were carried out in response to ceasefire violations, while Hamas has accused Israeli forces of breaching the agreement.
The civil defence agency, which operates as a rescue force in Gaza Strip, said one Israeli strike hit a tent housing displaced people in the north, while another targeted an area in the south.
According to the agency, five people were killed and several others wounded when an air strike hit a tent sheltering displaced families in Jabalia. In a separate early-morning strike, five more people were killed and several injured in the southern city of Khan Younis. One additional person was killed in Israeli shelling in Gaza City, while another died after Israeli gunfire in Beit Lahia, the agency said.
The Al-Shifa Hospital and Nasser Hospital confirmed receiving the bodies of at least seven of those killed.
“Israel doesn’t understand ceasefires or truces,” said Osama Abu Askar, who lost his nephew in the Jabalia strike. He said the victims were asleep when the tent was hit. “We’ve been living under a truce for months, and they’ve still targeted us,” he told AFP.
Dozens of mourners gathered at Nasser Hospital, where bodies wrapped in white shrouds were laid out. Men and women stood in prayer in the hospital compound ahead of funeral rites.
An Israeli military official said the strikes were launched after Hamas violated the ceasefire. The official claimed that armed militants crossed a so-called “Yellow Line” near Israeli troops after emerging from underground infrastructure, describing the move as an “explicit ceasefire violation.”
Under the ceasefire terms, which took effect on October 10, Israeli troops withdrew behind the “Yellow Line” but continue to control more than half of the territory.
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem rejected Israel’s claims, accusing the Israeli military of breaching the truce. “Targeting displaced people in their tents is a serious violation of the ceasefire agreement,” he said in a statement.
Gaza’s health ministry says at least 601 people have been killed since the truce began, while the Israeli military says at least four of its soldiers have died during the same period.
Media restrictions and limited access to Gaza have prevented AFP and other international news organisations from independently verifying casualty figures or freely covering the fighting.
