Israeli attacks on Gaza intensify following Iran truce, 120 Palestinians killed

Israel has escalated its attacks in Gaza in the five weeks since halting its joint bombing with the U.S. in Iran, redirecting its fire back on the ruined Palestinian enclave where the military believes Hamas fighters are tightening their grip.

According to the Gaza Health Ministry, 120 Palestinians, including eight women and 13 children, were killed in Gaza since the Iran war was paused on April 8 — 20% more than in the five weeks prior when Israel was attacking Iran.

Conflict monitor ACLED, which tracks Israeli attacks in Gaza, said in a monthly report for April that Israel had carried out 35% more attacks last month than in March.

The increase in Israeli strikes on Gaza is a further sign of stalled progress under U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to halt the war there and begin reconstruction.

"The war is still ongoing," said Lafi Al-Najjar, 36, a blind Palestinian, one of whose sons was killed on April 28 in an Israeli attack.

"It stopped in the announcement, but in reality and on the ground, the war has not stopped," said Najjar, whose family have been living in a tented camp in the ruins of Khan Yunis, once Gaza's second-largest city.

The Israeli military did not immediately provide comment on the reasons for its stepped-up strikes in Gaza. But four Israeli defense officials have told Reuters that the military had warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government in recent weeks that Hamas has been tightening its grip, rebuilding its forces and making weapons.

Faltering steps towards 'peace'

The agreement reached last October was supposed to halt attacks on Gaza after two years of a genocidal war waged by Israel on the besieged Strip. But steps have faltered to reach a permanent settlement that would withdraw Israeli troops, disarm Hamas, and allow the destroyed enclave to be rebuilt.

Israeli forces still occupy more than half of Gaza's territory, where they have demolished most remaining buildings and forced all residents to leave.

More than 2 million Palestinians are now confined to a tiny strip of territory along the coast, mainly in damaged structures or makeshift tents, where Hamas still has de facto control.

Israel has killed some 850 Palestinians in strikes and attacks since the October "cease-fire." Four Israeli soldiers were killed by Palestinian fighters during the same period. Hamas has not disclosed figures for casualties among its own fighters.

Since the pause in the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, several of Israel's strikes on Gaza have targeted positions held by the Hamas-run police force. At least 14 police officers have been killed since April 14, health and police officials said.

Nasser Khdour, a researcher with ACLED, said that over roughly 30 separate incidents in April, Israel carried out attacks targeting Hamas, other militant groups, police personnel and police stations, and security checkpoints.

Most of those attacks took place in areas under Hamas control, "while shelling, drone strikes, and gunfire continued to take place near the [armistice line], targeting militants and civilians, including women and children, approaching soldiers," Khdour said.

Since Israel joined the United States in bombing Iran in March, its military has operated at a relentless pace, also launching a ground invasion and heavy air campaign against Lebanon, where deadly daily attacks continue unabated despite a U.S.-brokered "cease-fire" in effect since April 17 and amidst ongoing rounds of Israel-Lebanon talks.