Israeli strikes kill eight Palestinians, including five police officers, in Gaza – officials

CAIRO, Nov 1 (Reuters) – Israeli strikes killed at least eight Palestinians, including five police officers, in separate attacks in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, according to medics and the Hamas‑run interior ministry.

Medics said three people were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City. The interior ministry reported that the five police officers were killed in another strike in western Khan Younis, in the southern part of the enclave.

The Israeli military said it had struck several militants in Khan Younis, without providing further details. It did not immediately comment on the Gaza City strike.

Israel says Hamas has been rearming and launching attacks in violation of a year‑old ceasefire, prompting intensified strikes against the group in recent weeks. Hamas denies attempting to carry out attacks or rebuild its arsenal, accusing Israel of undermining the Gaza peace deal.

The US‑brokered ceasefire from last year calls for eventual reconstruction of the territory. However, little progress has been made as negotiators have failed to agree on terms for Hamas to disarm or for Israel to withdraw its troops, who control about two‑thirds of the enclave and have ordered residents to evacuate.

Nearly all of Gaza’s more than 2 million residents now live in the remaining third of the enclave, amid war ruins, makeshift tents, and damaged buildings, still under Hamas’s effective control.

At least 1,500 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since the ceasefire began, according to Gaza health officials, while Israel says four soldiers have been killed.

Palestinian authorities report that more than 74,000 people have been killed in Israel’s assault on Gaza since Hamas‑led fighters killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel on October 7, 2023.

(Reporting by Nidal al‑Mughrabi; Editing by Peter Graff)

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