Israeli strikes kill 7 in Gaza as UN urges doctor’s release

Israeli airstrikes and gunfire killed at least seven Palestinians, including a child, across the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, health officials said, while United Nations experts called for the immediate release of a prominent Gaza hospital director, alleging he has endured torture and life-threatening injuries in Israeli detention.

The latest violence unfolded despite a U.S.-mediated cease-fire reached with Hamas last October, an agreement that both sides have repeatedly accused each other of violating.

Medical officials said an Israeli airstrike in the Mawasi area of southern Gaza’s Khan Younis killed one man and wounded two children. The Israeli military said the strike targeted a Hamas member.

In western Gaza City, another airstrike struck near a tent encampment sheltering displaced families, killing one person and injuring five others, according to medics.

A separate strike in Khan Younis killed another Palestinian and wounded three more. The Israeli military said both attacks targeted Hamas members.

The Popular Resistance Committees, a Palestinian group, later confirmed that one of the strikes in Khan Younis killed senior leaders Waheed Abu Salem.

Later Tuesday, medics and witnesses said Israeli troops opened fire in Rafah, killing one Palestinian and wounding nine others.

Mourners carry the body of Palestinian Imran Abu Jarad, who was killed in an Israeli strike on a tent at a camp sheltering displaced people, during his funeral, outside Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Palestine, July 7, 2026. (Reuters Photo)

In a separate attack in Gaza City’s Tel Al-Hawa neighborhood, an Israeli airstrike hit a vehicle, killing three people, including a child.

One of those killed was identified as Mohammad Al-Waheidi, an employee of the Egyptian Relief Committee, which provides humanitarian assistance in Gaza.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the Rafah shooting or the Tel Al-Hawa strike.

The attacks brought Tuesday’s reported death toll across Gaza to at least seven.

Cease-fire under strain

Israel has continued carrying out strikes across Gaza since the cease-fire took effect, saying it is targeting Hamas members who pose threats to Israeli forces or participated in the group’s Oct. 7, 2023, incursion into southern Israel.

Hamas has repeatedly accused Israel of violating the truce. Nikolay Mladenov, U.S. President Donald Trump’s appointed Board of Peace envoy to Gaza, has said both Israel and Hamas have breached the agreement.

According to figures released by both sides, more than 1,070 Palestinians, many of them civilians, and four Israeli soldiers have been killed since the cease-fire began eight months ago. Hamas has not disclosed how many of those killed were members of its armed wing.

Israeli forces now control more than 60% of Gaza, patrolling areas that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described as a security buffer intended to prevent future Hamas attacks. Netanyahu has repeatedly said Israel will not withdraw from those areas.

The war has devastated the enclave, displacing nearly all of Gaza’s roughly 2 million residents, many of whom now live in overcrowded tent camps or damaged buildings.

The conflict began following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 incursion into southern Israel, which killed around 1,200 people. Gaza’s Health Ministry says more than 73,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched its military campaign in response.

UN experts call for release of hospital director

Separately on Tuesday, independent United Nations experts demanded the immediate release of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, who has been detained by Israel since December 2024.

A pediatrician, Abu Safiya gained international attention in 2024 for documenting the deteriorating humanitarian conditions inside Kamal Adwan Hospital during an intense Israeli military offensive in Beit Lahia.

Israeli forces raided the hospital on Dec. 27, 2024, describing it as a Hamas “terrorist center.” During the operation, dozens of medical personnel, including Abu Safiya, were arrested.

In a joint statement, four independent experts appointed by the U.N. Human Rights Council said Abu Safiya remains arbitrarily detained without charges or trial.

“Dr. Abu Safiya’s ongoing arbitrary detention without charges or trial is a reflection of Israel’s systematic targeting of Palestinian health workers,” the experts said.

They also accused Israel of dismantling Gaza’s health care system and alleged that the campaign was intended to inflict conditions leading to the “mental and physical destruction” of Palestinians.

The experts cited reports alleging Abu Safiya has suffered severe torture in detention and warned that his injuries could become life-threatening if he is not given immediate medical treatment. They urged Israel to provide urgent and adequate health care while calling for his release.

The panel also renewed concerns over Israel’s Unlawful Combatants’ Law, which they have previously questioned under international law.

Among the signatories was Francesca Albanese, the U.N. special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, who has repeatedly accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza, allegations Israel strongly rejects and has responded to with accusations of anti-Semitism.

The experts said the war has “turned the practice of medicine into a crime,” alleging that Palestinian health care workers have faced harassment, intimidation, arrests, torture and killings throughout the conflict.

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