Israeli Strike Leaves 9 Dead in Gaza as Conflict Intensifies

CAIRO — Israeli strikes on a police station and a vehicle in Gaza killed at least nine people and wounded 20 others on Sunday, health officials said, as mediators launched new efforts to salvage a fragile US‑brokered ceasefire.

One strike hit a police post next to a tent encampment for displaced families in Khan Younis, killing five and wounding 16. Later, another airstrike on a vehicle in Gaza City killed four more people and wounded four, medics said.

Major fighting has been paused since October under a ceasefire, but Israeli troops still control more than half of Gaza’s territory. Nearly the entire population of 2 million now lives in a tiny coastal strip in makeshift tents or damaged buildings.

Hamas’s police force of nearly 10,000 officers has become a sticking point in talks. Hamas wants them included in a new police force; Israel rejects any role for Hamas‑affiliated personnel.

Egypt began hosting a new round of truce talks with Hamas and other Palestinian factions. Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem said the group is open to ideas that would end Israeli attacks and reach common ground, but accused the US‑led Board of Peace of being “biased” toward Israel.

Since the ceasefire began, Israeli strikes have killed more than 950 Palestinians, while Palestinian militants have killed four Israeli soldiers. Nearly 73,000 people in Gaza have been killed since the war began, most of them civilians, according to local health authorities.

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