Israeli Air Strike Kills Gaza Family of Three in Deir el-Balah Despite Ceasefire Agreement
- An Israeli air strike on central Gaza has killed a family of three, including a six-year-old girl, despite a ceasefire agreement
- Palestinian officials say another child survived the attack in Deir el-Balah, while hospitals struggle with shortages and rising casualties
- The latest violence depicts the stalled ceasefire talks, leaving Gaza’s civilians facing relentless bombardment and devastation
Three members of a family, a father, mother and their six-year-old daughter, were killed on Wednesday, July 15, 2026, in an Israeli air attack on an apartment in central Gaza. The strike hit Deir el-Balah, leaving another child as the sole survivor.
Palestinian Civil Defence teams rushed to the site, extinguishing a fire caused by the bombardment and rescuing the surviving child.
Source: Getty Images
Children at risk in Gaza
According to Al Jazeera, Palestinian health officials confirmed the deaths, while Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary reported from Gaza City: “Children are being killed on a daily basis in Gaza, and if they survive air strikes, many die of their wounds because of the lack of medical supplies and hospitals operating with severely reduced capacity.”
The United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency has warned that 96 percent of children in Gaza feel that death is imminent.
Israeli army confirms attack
The Israeli army later admitted responsibility for the Deir el-Balah strike, claiming it had targeted a Hamas fighter. However, the attack killed civilians, including children. Elsewhere, Israeli air raids hit a rehabilitation centre in Gaza City and a park in Khan Younis, where hundreds of displaced families had been sheltering.
Casualty update
According to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, at least 12 bodies were brought to hospitals on Wednesday, one person died of wounds, and 18 others were injured in Israeli attacks over the latest 24-hour reporting period. Since the United States-brokered ceasefire in October, Israeli air raids have killed more than 1,100 people, including at least 275 children. Four Israeli soldiers have also been killed during this period.
Background to the conflict
The war began in October 2023 after a Hamas-led attack in southern Israel killed an estimated 1,200 people and took about 240 captive. Israel responded with a campaign that Palestinian officials describe as genocidal, killing more than 73,200 people, including at least 21,000 children.
Israel has dropped about 223,000 tonnes of explosives on Gaza – 16 times more than the US dropped on Hiroshima in 1945 – leaving most of the territory in ruins and displacing its residents.
Stalled ceasefire talks
Prospects for a permanent end to hostilities remain bleak. Talks on a second phase of the ceasefire, which would involve Hamas giving up its weapons and Israel fully withdrawing from Gaza, have largely stalled. As a result, civilians continue to bear the brunt of the violence, with families torn apart and infrastructure destroyed.
Source: Getty Images
Al Jazeera journalist killed in Israeli drone strike
Legit.ng earlier reported that Qatar-based broadcaster Al Jazeera announced on Saturday, June 20, 2026, that its journalist Ahmed Wishah was killed in an Israeli drone strike targeting a house in the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza.
The strike also wounded several people, according to the channel’s correspondent.
Source: Legit.ng
