Israeli strike on Gaza City police headquarters kills nine

An Israeli strike on the municipal police headquarters in Gaza City has killed nine people and wounded at least 20, according to Gaza health officials. The attack hit the Palestinian territory's largest city on Wednesday, with bodies taken to Al-Shifa Hospital after the strike. The dead included a woman and a girl, hospital officials said.

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The Israeli military said it targeted a Hamas commander in the strike, saying he had planned attacks against troops in the territory. It said it used precise munitions and aerial surveillance before the attack to reduce harm to civilians. The military also said it struck another Hamas commander in the Nuseirat area in central Gaza.

Gaza's civil defence agency, which operates as a rescue service under Hamas, confirmed the death toll. Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem condemned what he called Israel's complete disregard for ceasefire calls. He said Donald Trump's Board of Peace, which is meant to implement the ceasefire plan agreed last October, bore responsibility for the escalation because it had failed to press Israel to meet its commitments.

The strike comes as attacks in the Palestinian territory continue despite a renewed US push to advance a long-term Gaza peace plan. That effort has become tied to wider questions over whether Hamas will disarm and whether Israeli forces will withdraw from Gaza. The latest violence underlines how fragile the diplomatic track remains even as mediators seek to move the process forward.

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The broader context is a conflict in which Israeli strikes have repeatedly targeted people described by the military as Hamas commanders, while Gaza health officials and rescue services have continued to report civilian casualties. On Monday, Jared Kushner said progress on disarming Hamas and advancing the peace plan could begin within a month after meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Two weeks earlier, Hamas had endorsed the latest stage of the plan, but Mr Netanyahu has said he will not withdraw troops until Hamas is genuinely disarmed.

What remains unclear is the full identity of those killed in the Gaza City strike and whether the military's account will be independently verified. It is also not clear how the latest attacks will affect the US-backed peace effort or whether further strikes will follow. The next developments to watch are any response from mediators, new casualty figures, and whether talks on the ceasefire plan regain momentum.

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