Is Israel continuing to kill Arabs in Gaza after the cease fire?
Executive summary
Yes: multiple reputable outlets report that Israeli strikes have continued to kill Palestinians in Gaza after the October ceasefire, with deadly waves of airstrikes reported as the truce entered a new phase and mediators pressed to advance reconstruction plans [1] [2] [3].
1. What the reporting documents: ongoing deadly strikes despite a ceasefire
Since the truce took effect in October, news organizations have documented repeated Israeli strikes that Gaza health authorities and local hospitals say have killed hundreds of Palestinians; several outlets cite totals in the 400–509 range attributed to Israeli fire since the ceasefire began [1] [4] [5] [6]. Independent contemporaneous stories describe specific incidents — overnight waves of airstrikes that killed scores in Gaza City, Khan Younis and Rafah, including strikes on a police station, tent camps and apartment buildings — and label some of these the deadliest since the ceasefire [2] [4] [6].
2. Israel’s stated rationale: responses to alleged ceasefire violations
Israeli authorities consistently frame their strikes as targeted responses to breaches by Palestinian militants, saying they struck commanders, weapons sites and militants who crossed or threatened areas near the so‑called “yellow line” or Israeli-controlled zones, and have reported dozens of suspected violations and confrontations since October [7] [8] [1]. Military statements cited by multiple outlets say recent strikes were carried out after incidents such as militants exiting tunnels in Israeli-controlled Rafah or approaching Israeli troops, and the IDF reports numerous alleged violations across the truce period [1] [7].
3. Palestinian and third‑party accounts: casualty tallies and charges of violation
Palestinian authorities, Gaza health officials and local media organizations report civilian deaths — including women and children — and accuse Israel of “flagrant” or “repeated” violations of the truce, while documenting hundreds of incidents they classify as ceasefire breaches and tallying deaths and injuries over the ceasefire period [9] [10] [4]. International and regional actors — Egypt, other mediators and some states — have publicly condemned specific strikes and warned that continued killings risk undermining the political course of the truce and the transition to reconstruction [2] [11].
4. Scale, trends and disputed figures: why totals vary
Reporting shows variation in casualty counts and violation tallies because different actors publish different data: Gaza’s health ministry and Gaza Government Media Office publish high counts of Palestinians killed and incidents they call violations; the IDF publishes its own list of Hamas and other militant actions and says its strikes are limited and retaliatory [1] [10] [8]. Journalists note that major spikes — single nights when 23–32 people were reported killed — have punctuated an otherwise fragile truce and that those spikes are often linked by Israel to specific alleged breaches [5] [2] [6].
5. The political context: a ceasefire being tested while phase two proceeds
Despite repeated incidents, mediators—including the United States—have been pressing forward with a phased plan that opened Rafah and moved to phase two while promising reconstruction and demilitarisation, a dynamic that analysts say has created pressure to advance the deal even as violations continue and the security situation remains fragile [12] [3] [13]. Reporting emphasizes that the truce is holding in broad terms but is marked by near‑daily friction: both sides trade blame, Israel vows to respond to violations, and Palestinian authorities record civilian harm as negotiations and reconstruction planning continue [14] [7] [9].
6. Bottom line and limits of the record
The best available reporting from the cited outlets documents that Israeli strikes have continued after the ceasefire and have resulted in Palestinian deaths; Israel publicly characterises many strikes as responses to ceasefire breaches while Gaza authorities and others characterise them as violations causing civilian casualties [1] [2] [4]. This summary relies on contemporaneous media reports and official statements; where sources disagree on numbers or motive, both positions are recorded in the coverage and definitive, independently verified attribution of every incident is not available within the cited reporting [10] [8].