By Middle East Correspondent
London, (The Muslim News): Four Palestinians were killed in Israeli bombardment in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, in what medical sources described as a further breach of the ceasefire agreement in place since October 10.
The sources said the victims were killed by Israeli shelling that targeted the Zeitoun neighbourhood in Gaza City. Witnesses reported that Israeli fighter jets also struck eastern Khan Younis, while artillery fire and intermittent gunfire from military vehicles continued. Additional airstrikes were reported east of the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, and both the Zeitoun and Shujaiya districts in eastern Gaza City came under renewed airstrikes and artillery shelling.
Despite the ceasefire, Israeli forces continue to control Gaza’s southern and eastern buffer zones and large parts of the north, occupying more than half of the enclave.
Israel’s military campaign, which began on October 8, 2023, and lasted two years, has killed more than 71,000 Palestinians, wounded over 171,000 others, and destroyed around 90 per cent of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure.
Since the ceasefire took effect on October 10, 2025, Israeli attacks have killed 483 Palestinians and wounded 1,287, while restrictions on the entry of food, shelter materials and medical supplies have persisted. Gaza’s 2.4 million residents continue to face dire humanitarian conditions.
Medical sources said on Thursday that 11 Palestinians had been killed, and seven others wounded in Israeli fire and shelling over the past 48 hours. They added that several victims remain trapped under rubble and in the streets, as rescue and ambulance crews have been unable to reach them. The sources said the total number of Palestinians killed since the ceasefire on October 11 had risen to 477, with 1,301 injured and 713 bodies recovered.
Israel carries out major military operation in West Bank
Meanwhile, Israeli forces continued a major military operation in the occupied West Bank for a fourth consecutive day, carrying out raids, detentions, and house searches in the southern city of Hebron, according to local sources. Israeli reinforcements were deployed to several neighbourhoods, homes were raided and residents were subjected to on-the-spot interrogations. A curfew was imposed in southern parts of the city, with at least two Palestinians detained in recent hours.
Late on Wednesday night, Israeli forces resumed the operation after briefly allowing residents to leave their homes on foot to obtain necessities. On Monday, the Israeli army announced that the operation would last several days and involve the army, the Shin Bet security agency and border police forces. The army said it was focused on the Jabal Jawhar area, citing what it described as a rise in armed activity, uncontrolled clan disputes, and the widespread presence of illegal weapons.
Videos circulated on social media showed Israeli forces stopping and detaining Palestinians during the operation, which is being conducted in the H2 area of Hebron under Israeli control following the 1997 Protocol on the Redeployment in Hebron. The area includes neighbourhoods surrounding the Old City and the Ibrahimi Mosque.
Elsewhere in the West Bank, Palestinian youths were injured during confrontations with illegal Israeli settlers in Qusra, south of Nablus, according to local sources. Settlers attacked residents in the town’s south-western area, prompting confrontations with Israeli occupation forces. Several youths sustained bruises after being targeted with stones thrown by settlers.
Israeli forces also detained at least 18 Palestinians during a raid on Beit Ula, northeast of Hebron. Local sources said Israeli troops stormed the town, searched homes, ransacked property, and arrested more than 18 members of the al-Adham family, including ten brothers.
Palestinian figures show that Israeli forces and settlers have killed at least 1,107 Palestinians in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since October 2023, wounded nearly 11,000 and detained around 21,000. Last July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
The humanitarian situation in Gaza remains acute. More than 230,000 women and girls, including nearly 15,000 pregnant women, face limited access to reproductive health services, the United Nations said on Thursday. UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric, citing the UN Population Fund, warned that “there is an increased risk of gender-based violence, child marriage, and exploitation of women and girls.” He added that damage to health facilities, displacement and flooding had “sharply limited access to psychosocial support and medical care.”
UN humanitarian partners have reached more than 13,000 households since Sunday, distributing “hundreds of tents” along with mattresses, blankets, warm clothes, cooking utensils, and solar lights. However, funding and capacity constraints mean assistance currently reaches only about 40 per cent of Gaza’s 970 displacement sites.
Israel’s war on Gaza has killed more than 71,000 Palestinians and wounded over 171,000, most of them women and children, while destroying the vast majority of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure. Despite the ceasefire, Israeli strikes and restrictions on humanitarian supplies continue to compound the humanitarian catastrophe.
[Photo: Palestinians struggle to survive amid the ruins of the Jabalia Refugee Camp in the northern Gaza Strip, where widespread destruction has left residents facing severe shortages of water, restricted movement and ongoing insecurity on January 22, 2026. Photojournalist: Saeed M. M. T. Jaras/AA]
