GAZA CITY, September 7, 2026 — An Israeli drone strike killed a Palestinian man and his teenage daughter in western Gaza City on Sunday, health officials said, the latest in a string of deadly attacks that have continued despite the Gaza ceasefire. Xinhua reported that medical and local sources in Gaza confirmed the deaths.
Mohamed Abu Selmia, director of Al-Shifa Hospital, identified the victims as Youssef Akila and his daughter Wafaa. Six others were wounded when the strike hit their vehicle. Hours earlier, seven people were injured in a separate strike near the Abu Assi School, which shelters displaced families north of the Al-Shati refugee camp. Israel’s military said it had struck targets it described as threats to its forces operating in the area, though it did not name Akila or explain why a passenger vehicle was hit.
United Nations agencies have separately raised alarm over the toll on children. UNICEF said this week that three boys and girls between the ages of 3 and 13 had been killed in Gaza within a single 24-hour period, with at least five more injured, according to statements from UN agencies. The agency called for an end to the use of explosive weapons and indiscriminate fire in areas where children shelter.
The violence has not been limited to Gaza. Israeli forces shot a Palestinian child in the leg during a raid on the occupied West Bank city of Qalqilya this week, Al Jazeera reported, citing the Palestinian Red Crescent Society. Separately, strikes on southern Lebanon killed at least seven people, according to Lebanese health authorities.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called for an immediate end to the strikes at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit last week. “In Gaza, the ceasefire must be respected,” he said, urging the removal of obstacles to humanitarian aid, according to UN News. The appeal has done little to slow the pace of strikes in the eleven months since the truce was signed.
Arab and Islamic states have responded with unusually direct language. Jordan, alongside seven other Arab and Islamic nations, issued a joint statement condemning what it called declarations of intent by Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Defense Minister Israel Katz toward the forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza. The UAE’s foreign ministry, in remarks carried by The National, warned the proposals could have grave consequences for regional stability. The statement reflects growing regional alarm that ceasefire terms are being used as cover for permanent depopulation rather than reconstruction.
The remarks that triggered the joint condemnation came days after Israeli officials signaled they still intend to press ahead with removing Palestinians from Gaza despite the ceasefire framework negotiated last October. Katz has said Israel is prepared to act once the United States approves such a step, a position that has alarmed the mediators who helped broker the original truce. The plan echoes an earlier proposal that Jared Kushner reportedly pressed Prime Minister Netanyahu not to obstruct, before Netanyahu called an October election that Israeli critics say is intended to pre-empt any binding peace settlement.
Tensions in the wider region have escalated in parallel. Iran said this week that it struck a US naval vessel in the Strait of Hormuz amid a renewed cycle of hostilities, a claim the US military has denied. Whatever the facts of that specific incident, the broader pattern is unmistakable. Nearly a year after a ceasefire was supposed to end the bloodshed in Gaza, Palestinian civilians continue to bury their dead, and Washington’s continued military and diplomatic backing for Israel has done nothing to stop it.
For families in Gaza City, the ceasefire has brought no real reprieve. Wafaa Akila becomes another name added to a list that grows almost daily, a reminder that a truce on paper has not translated into safety on the ground for Palestinians living under occupation and blockade.
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