Israel kills 8 Palestinians, expands Gaza occupation despite ceasefire

The Israeli army killed eight Palestinians and injured several others in two separate attacks on Gaza City on Saturday while expanding the territory under its occupation east of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, medical sources and local officials told Anadolu.

Deadly strikes on Gaza City

Medical sources at Al-Shifa and Al-Ahli Baptist hospitals said they received the bodies of three Palestinians and two injured people after Israeli artillery shelled the area near the Dawla roundabout in the Zeitoun neighborhood, southeast of Gaza City. An Israeli warplane separately targeted an apartment in the Nasr neighborhood, killing five Palestinians including a female child and injuring several others, a medical source at Al-Shifa Hospital told Anadolu. The airstrike destroyed the apartment and damaged surrounding residential buildings, witnesses said, sending families scrambling through rubble to search for survivors amid the chaos.

Evacuation orders and territorial expansion

Dozens of Palestinian families fled the Dawla area south of Zeitoun after the Israeli army issued evacuation warnings by calling a local resident, local sources told Anadolu. The evacuation order came ahead of what the army said would be a "limited" military operation, forcing families to abandon tents and the remains of their homes in the Abu Marahil and Dar al-Salam displacement camps and nearby areas west of Salah al-Din Street. In the central Gaza Strip, Israeli military vehicles supported by a bulldozer advanced dozens of meters near the Abu Miri roundabout east of Deir al-Balah early Saturday under heavy gunfire and artillery shelling.

The forces moved concrete blocks marking the so-called "yellow line" approximately 100 meters westward before withdrawing to their positions, witnesses said. By morning, dozens of families discovered the barriers had been repositioned west of their homes, effectively placing the properties within the zone controlled by the Israeli army. The "yellow line" is a security boundary imposed by Israel inside Gaza that encompasses more than 70% of the enclave, with Palestinians barred from approaching areas near the militarized perimeter.

Ceasefire violations mount

Israel continued to violate the ceasefire agreement that has been in effect since Oct. 10, 2025. According to Gaza's Health Ministry, Israeli ceasefire violations have killed more than 1,144 Palestinians and injured 3,703 others as of Friday. The ministry said Israel's military campaign in Gaza since October 2023 has killed more than 73,000 Palestinians and wounded over 173,000, while causing widespread destruction that has reduced about 90% of the enclave's civilian infrastructure to rubble.