TWO Israeli airstrikes in the central Gaza Strip killed at least two people, including a four-year-old boy, and wounded seven others on Sunday, Palestinian health officials said, as Israel warned it would intensify military action over what it described as launches of balloons, drones and kites from Gaza towards Israel.
One of the strikes hit a building in Zawayda in central Gaza after the Israeli military warned its owners to leave the area, according to residents.
Medics said flying debris and shrapnel were scattered across an area extending dozens of metres from the site, injuring at least six people, including four-year-old Mohammad Abdel-Salam Taha, who was later pronounced dead at hospital.
“There is no ceasefire, there is nothing,” said Abu Ahmed, a displaced Palestinian sheltering near the building, which was reduced to a heap of twisted metal and concrete.
“We want solutions, we want to live in peace,” Reuters quoted him saying.
The second strike hit the nearby Nuseirat refugee camp, according to Palestinian health officials.
The Israeli military said it was investigating both incidents.
Israel Warns of Intensified Strikes
An October 2025 US-backed ceasefire halted major fighting in Gaza but has failed to prevent continued Israeli military strikes, which Israel says are aimed at stopping attacks by Hamas and other Palestinian militants.
The Israeli military said late on Saturday that it had killed senior Hamas militant Sharif Al-Hasnat in Deir Al-Balah, accusing him of leading efforts to restore the group's “underground infrastructure”.
Hamas has accused Israel of repeatedly violating the ceasefire and undermining efforts to implement a broader US-backed plan to end the conflict.
The plan proposed by US President Donald Trump includes Israeli troop withdrawals and the disarmament of Hamas.
More than 1,280 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire took effect last October, according to Palestinian health officials. The Israeli military says four Israeli soldiers have been killed during the same period.
Israel has reported the launch of drones, balloons and kites from Gaza towards its territory.
Following a security assessment on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office warned that Israel would intensify strikes on Gaza and order civilians to evacuate areas if the launches did not stop immediately.
Senior Hamas official Basem Naim rejected the warning, writing on X that children were flying kites “in search of their innocent childhood amid the rubble”.
Violence escalates in West Bank
Violence also continued in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where an Israeli man was stabbed and wounded in an attack near Jericho, according to Israeli police and the military.
Security camera footage released by the military appeared to show a man waiting beside a vehicle near a main highway before approaching and stabbing the Israeli man as he went towards his parked car.
The suspect fled on foot and Israeli forces launched a search for him.
Separately, Palestinian health officials said Israeli forces shot and killed a 14-year-old boy, Islam Ajjouri, during a raid on Askar refugee camp near Nablus.
The Israeli military said it was investigating the incident.
The West Bank, home to about three million Palestinians and roughly 500,000 Israeli settlers, has experienced rising settler violence and increased seizures of Palestinian land and resources.
The United Nations and most countries consider Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank illegal under international law, while Israel rejects that position and points to its biblical and historical ties to the territory.
With violence continuing in both Gaza and the West Bank, efforts to secure a lasting political settlement remain stalled, with Israel and Hamas still divided over the terms of an agreement to bring the conflict to an end. - August 24, 2026
