On Monday, an Israeli strike hit a shelter near al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa; the attack occurred amid ongoing Israeli hostilities in the enclave and added to the death toll in the region.

Alleged Militant Targeted in Strike

The Israeli army announced via Telegram that it targeted two “militants” in the Deir al-Balah area on Sunday night, including Muhammad Abdul Nasser Jaber Abu Asad, who was identified as a member of the elite forces of Hamas’s military wing and involved in the October 7 attack on Israel. The army stated that the pair had recently been working to carry out operations against Israeli forces and attempting to rebuild Hamas’s capabilities, and the statement described these activities as a “systematic violation of the ceasefire.”

Continuing Hostilities and Casualties

The ongoing strikes have continued despite a United States-brokered ceasefire aimed at ending Israel’s military operations in Gaza — On Sunday, three Palestinians, including a four-year-old child, were killed in Israeli strikes in southern Gaza and the Deir al-Balah region. A man wounded in an attack on Khan Younis on Sunday later succumbed to his injuries, and another wounded in an airstrike near Gaza Port last week also died on Monday.

Separately, in the eastern Gaza City neighborhood of Shejaiya, at least 27 people were killed and 70 others were injured in an Israeli airstrike on a school-turned-shelter in the nearby Tuffah neighborhood, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run Ministry of Health. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) claimed the strike targeted prominent terrorists in a Hamas command and control center in the area.

Ground Operations and Ceasefire Collapse

Israeli forces announced the expansion of military operations in northern Gaza, resuming hostilities in March after a pause of nearly two months; this followed a ceasefire in which 33 Israeli hostages were released by Hamas in exchange for some 1,800 Palestinian prisoners. Some of these prisoners were alleged by Israeli officials to have been serving life sentences for murder and other violent crimes.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that he ordered renewed strikes after Hamas refused to free half of the remaining hostages as a precondition for extending the ceasefire. The first phase of the ceasefire expired on March 1, after which the bombardment resumed with “full force.” Netanyahu added that further negotiations “will continue only under fire.” Israel is demanding the immediate release of all remaining hostages, which include 59 people, 24 of whom are believed to still be alive.

Hamas has accused Netanyahu of intentionally collapsing the ceasefire, but the group governs Gaza and has criticized the resumption of Israeli military action as a deliberate move to escalate violence in the region.

The October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas on southern Israel resulted in the deaths of approximately 1,200 people, according to the Israeli government; that attack marked the beginning of the current conflict and led to the ongoing hostilities and humanitarian crisis in Gaza.