An Israeli airstrike on Deir el-Balah, a city in central Gaza, killed a three-year-old child named Taim Hamdan and an adult man identified as Hossam Naseer on Sunday, according to Palestinian medics and the official Palestinian news agency Wafa. The strike hit near a bakery, and several other people were wounded. The Israeli military said it had targeted a Hamas fighter and described Naseer as having been involved in attacks on Israeli forces and civilians. Hamas had not issued a response to those claims at the time of reporting.

The deaths are part of a continuing pattern of casualties since a US-brokered ceasefire came into effect last October. Gaza's Health Ministry says that, despite the truce, at least 1,318 Palestinians have been killed and more than 4,375 injured since the ceasefire began, with 815 bodies recovered from rubble. The Israeli military says four of its soldiers have also been killed in that period. Israel has maintained that its ongoing strikes are necessary to eliminate threats from Hamas and other armed groups, while Hamas accuses Israel of violating the ceasefire and undermining broader efforts — including a peace framework proposed by US President Donald Trump — to end the conflict, which would also require an Israeli troop withdrawal and Hamas disarmament.

Since the war began following the Hamas-led attacks of 7 October 2023, Gaza's Health Ministry puts the overall death toll at more than 73,000, with over 174,000 wounded across the territory. Separately, World Central Kitchen founder José Andrés renewed his call this week for an independent investigation into the April 2024 Israeli strikes that killed seven of the organisation's aid workers travelling in clearly marked vehicles on a route that had been approved by and coordinated with Israeli authorities.

Sunday also marked the International Day of the Disappeared, observed every 30 August, and families in Gaza gathered outside the International Committee of the Red Cross office in Gaza City under the banner