An Israeli airstrike killed a man, his wife and their six-year-old daughter in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, Palestinian health officials said as talks to advance the US-brokered Gaza ceasefire deal faltered.
The strike on an apartment building in Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza killed Omar Abu Qassem, his wife, Asma, and their daughter, Habeeba, medics said. Their three-year-old son, Sami, survived, but was injured, medics said.
The Israeli military said the strike targeted a Hamas militant.
Friends and relatives arrived at the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir Al-Balah where they paid farewell to the three white-shrouded bodies before burying them after performing special prayers.
“The child is the lone survivor. How (to live) without a father, without a mother? What kind of cruelty is this that the people of Palestine, the people of Gaza, are enduring?” Abu Anas Shahin, a relative, said to Reuters.
“Where is the mercy? Where is the humanity?” he said.
More than 58 000 children in Gaza have lost one or both parents, according to United Nations figures as of November 2025.
In Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood in Gaza City, an Israeli airstrike killed one person, medics said. The Israeli military didn’t immediately comment on this incident.
The deaths add to a toll of more than 1,100 Palestinians, mostly civilians, killed by Israeli attacks since an October ceasefire between Israel and Hamas to end the war took effect, according to health officials in the enclave. Hamas doesn’t usually disclose information about its fatalities.
The truce halted major fighting but has failed to stop near-daily Israeli strikes. Four Israeli soldiers have been killed by militants in Gaza over the same period.
