Israeli strikes kill five people in Gaza, medics say
Mourners carry the bodies of Palestinians who were killed in an Israeli strike, according to medics, in Gaza City, May 17, 2026. REUTERS
Israeli strikes killed at least five Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, health officials said, as ceasefire efforts meant to end fighting between Israel and Hamas falter.
In the weeks since halting its joint bombing with the US in Iran, Israel has stepped up its attacks in Gaza, where Hamas has been tightening its grip, even as Israeli troops remain in control of more than half the territory.
Medics said an Israeli strike killed one Palestinian near a police post and another at a tent encampment in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. The Israeli military said it killed a militant who posed an immediate threat to forces in the area.
Separately, Gaza medics said another Israeli airstrike killed at least three people at a community kitchen near Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir Al-Balah, in the central Gaza area. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on that incident.
On Saturday, the Israeli military said that Izz al-Din al-Haddad, the head of Hamas' armed wing in Gaza, was killed in what it described as a precise strike on Gaza City on Friday.
Hamas commander killed in car
The Israeli military said it had also killed Bahaa Baroud, a Hamas Operations Headquarters commander, in an airstrike on Saturday, accusing him of planning multiple imminent attacks against troops and Israeli civilians in recent weeks.
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The military said Baroud posed an immediate threat and was targeted in a precise strike, adding that measures were taken beforehand to reduce civilian harm, including the use of precision munitions and aerial surveillance.
Gaza health officials said Baroud, along with another person, was killed in the airstrike, which targeted their car in Gaza City.
Israel and Hamas remain deadlocked in indirect talks to advance US President Donald Trump's post-war plan for Gaza that is meant to end more than two years of fighting with Hamas disarming as Israeli troops withdraw from Gaza.
Some 870 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes since the October ceasefire, according to figures that do not distinguish between combatants and civilians. Four Israeli soldiers were killed during the same period.
Hamas does not disclose figures for casualties among its fighters.