By Middle East Correspondent
London, (The Muslim News): Five Palestinians were killed and more than 23 wounded in Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, while Israeli settlers attempted to set fire to a mosque in the occupied West Bank and Israeli forces detained three Palestinian fishermen.
Three Palestinians were killed and more than 20 wounded in a series of Israeli attacks in the Al-Katiba area of Gaza City, according to medical sources cited by Anadolu.
A Civil Defense officer and another Palestinian were also seriously wounded when Israeli forces shelled a group of Palestinians near the Abu Sharakh roundabout in the Saftawi area.
Civil Defense said firefighter Yusuf Hatem Salem was seriously injured when Israeli forces targeted members of the service while they were carrying out humanitarian duties in Jabalia.
Israeli artillery shelled areas east of Gaza City and northern Gaza, while Israeli military vehicles opened heavy fire towards homes and buildings. Israeli warships also fired at sea north of Gaza City, while local sources reported further Israeli fire towards eastern Jabalia.
The Israeli army said it had targeted a commander in Hamas’s military wing in Jabalia, without naming him or providing details of his fate. Hamas did not immediately comment.
In central Gaza, a child, Israa al-Hassi, was killed by Israeli army gunfire in eastern Deir al-Balah, according to a medical source.
Talal Ismail Mahmoud Ziyara, 73, also died from wounds sustained earlier Tuesday after being shot in the Al-Mashaeila area of the city.
Israeli military vehicles advanced into southeastern Deir al-Balah and fired smoke and explosive grenades around Al-Batton Street, while engineering operations were reported in the Abu al-Ajeen and Wadi al-Salqa areas. Israeli artillery also shelled the northeastern and eastern areas of Bureij refugee camp.
In southern Gaza, two Palestinians, including a woman, were wounded by Israeli gunfire near the Al-Nimsawi cemetery west of Khan Younis. Israeli artillery also shelled areas south of the city.
Settlers target West Bank mosque
Illegal Israeli settlers attempted to set fire to the Nur al-Din Zengi Mosque in Bazariya, northwest of Nablus, early Tuesday, according to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa.
Local sources said the settlers attempted to force their way into the mosque but failed to open its doors. They then set fire to a room near the mosque and sprayed racist slogans at the site.
According to Anadolu, the slogans included threats against Palestinians and a message directed at US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee that read: “Huckabee, greetings from the terrorists.”
Huckabee last month described Israeli settlers who attacked Palestinians in Qusra and other parts of the occupied West Bank as “terrorists”.
The Palestinian Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs condemned the mosque attack, calling the targeting of places of worship a “dangerous and systematic escalation”.
The Palestinian presidency also warned of what it called a continuing “religious war” against Al-Aqsa Mosque and other religious sites, saying attacks had “crossed all red lines”.
It said the mosque attack, together with Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem, showed that attacks on holy sites had become “a systematic policy adopted and protected by the occupation government”.
The presidency reiterated that Al-Aqsa Mosque is “a purely Islamic site” and that East Jerusalem and its Islamic and Christian holy sites form part of the occupied Palestinian territory.
The incident comes amid increased settler violence in the occupied West Bank. The UN said in August that more than 1,430 settler attacks resulting in casualties or property damage had been documented in 2026 by early August.
The UN also documented arson attacks against mosques in the Ramallah governorate in June, including attempts to set buildings on fire and graffiti sprayed on mosque walls.
Three fishermen detained
Israeli forces also detained three Palestinian fishermen while they were working off the Gaza coast.
Zakaria Bakr, coordinator of the Union of Fishermen’s Committees in Gaza, told Anadolu that Israeli warships attacked fishing boats off Gaza City and near Al-Zawaida in central Gaza, detaining several fishermen.
Some were subsequently released, but three remained in detention after being taken to an unknown location, Bakr said.
The Israeli navy has repeatedly opened fire on Palestinian fishing boats off Gaza, with fishermen killed, wounded or detained and boats damaged or destroyed.
Gaza death toll
The latest attacks come amid continued Israeli violations of the Gaza ceasefire, which took effect on October 10, 2025.
Since the ceasefire began, Israel has killed 1,326 Palestinians and wounded 4,398 others, according to figures cited by Anadolu. Rescue teams have also recovered hundreds of bodies from under the rubble.
The Gaza Health Ministry said Tuesday that the number of Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks since October 2023 had reached about 73,462, with 174,509 wounded.
US strikes Iranian targets
Separately, US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that American forces were striking Iranian targets near the Strait of Hormuz, warning Tehran against retaliation.
“The United States is, as we speak, striking Iranian Targets near the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
He said the strikes were retaliation for what he described as Iran’s “failed attempt” to plant sea mines in the strait. Trump also said Iran had fired eight missiles at a US base in Jordan, claiming they had all been intercepted.
“If the failed Nation of Iran retaliates for this very justified attack, they will be hit again at a much harder and higher level,” Trump wrote.
Speaking to Fox News, Trump said US forces had waited until Iran had almost rebuilt a radar system before striking it.
He warned that Iran would be “hit much harder” if it retaliated, adding: “If it goes a third time, they’re going to be totally wiped out as a country.”
Earlier Tuesday, US Central Command said American forces had begun striking Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targets in Iran.
CENTCOM said the strikes followed “attempted attacks by the IRGC against commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and against American service members deployed to the region.”
The IRGC warned that the US “will regret its new attacks”.
“A harsh punishment awaits the aggressors,” IRGC spokesman Sardar Mohebi said, according to Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency.
Several explosions were also reported east of Iran’s southern port city of Bandar Abbas in Hormozgan province.
Iranian state broadcaster IRIB reported more than five explosions around Masan village on Qeshm Island, with four further explosions heard from the direction of the Strait of Hormuz.
The deputy governor of Hormozgan for political, security and social affairs said no casualties had been reported in the province at the time of the report.
[Photo: Israeli settlers attempt to prevent Palestinian journalists from covering the demolition of two Palestinian-owned buildings by Israeli forces in the town of Birzeit, north of Ramallah in West Bank, Palestine, on August 31, 2026, as a journalist is attacked while covering the demolition. The Israeli army demolished the buildings with heavy machinery, saying they were built without permits. Photojournalist: İssam Rimawi/AA]
