An Israeli airstrike on a residential apartment in western Gaza City killed at least five Palestinians early on Saturday and wounded at least six others, according to medical and civil defence officials in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli military had not commented at the time of reporting.
The strike hit the al-Asala building in the Remal neighbourhood, one of the most densely populated parts of Gaza City, where thousands of displaced people shelter in makeshift camps. Al Jazeera's correspondent said no warning was given and that residents were asleep when the attack came. "We heard fighter jets getting louder, then three strikes followed," he said. The munitions reportedly penetrated the targeted apartment and tore through the floors below. Fires burned for at least an hour before Palestinian Civil Defence crews put them out, and rescuers were still searching the rubble for missing people. Al-Shifa Hospital, which received the casualties, said the dead included four women, among them an elderly Christian woman and her daughter.
Palestinian media also reported a series of air raids in western Gaza City, Israeli demolitions in the Tuffah district to the east, artillery shelling in eastern Khan Younis, and heavy gunfire in Rafah's al-Mawasi area. A Palestinian was wounded by drone fire east of the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.
The violence comes under a ceasefire that the United States brokered and that took effect on 10 October 2025. Negotiators have not agreed on terms for disarming Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that governs Gaza, or for the withdrawal of Israeli forces. Israel has stepped up attacks on Hamas in recent weeks, saying the group is rearming and launching attacks in breach of the truce. Hamas denies trying to carry out attacks or rebuild its arsenal, and accuses Israel of undermining the agreement.
Gaza's health ministry says about 1,400 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the ceasefire began; its latest figure, through Thursday, was 1,439 killed and 5,052 wounded. The Israeli military says four of its soldiers have been killed by militants in Gaza over the same period. Since the war began on 7 October 2023, Palestinian figures put the death toll at more than 74,000, with roughly 90 percent of the territory's infrastructure destroyed.
Separately, the World Health Organization said Israeli authorities are blocking medical equipment, including X-ray devices, from entering Gaza without official justification, saying growing restrictions undermine claims that curbs have eased. On Friday, the US Treasury sanctioned three individuals and two France-based charities it says were part of a network that raised more than $2 million for Hamas through misleading charitable fronts and cryptocurrency channels.
The strike underlines how fragile the ceasefire remains, with civilians continuing to die and the central disputes over disarmament and withdrawal unresolved.