Gaza Strikes Kill Four, Including Two Children, as US Push for De-escalation Stalls

Israeli military operations in Gaza killed at least four Palestinians on Monday, including two young children, according to hospital officials. The deaths come just a week after a US delegation privately urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to scale back attacks, yet Israel has announced strikes on six of the seven days since that meeting.

In the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, an Israeli strike hit a building after evacuation warnings were issued. One family could not flee in time, and a four-year-old boy was killed, according to Awda Hospital. His mother and sister were wounded. The Israeli military did not comment on this specific incident.

Elsewhere, strikes hit three other buildings after residents received warnings. Witnesses described scenes of panic as families sprinted away, mothers carrying children, and elderly people moving through rubble with wheelchairs or canes. Smoke rose over the already devastated landscape.

The Israeli military said it targeted two Hamas weapons storage facilities inside mosques in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City and in Deir al-Balah, claiming the sites contained dozens of Kalashnikov rifles and other military equipment. No evidence was provided.

In Deir al-Balah, an earlier strike on a tent killed a man, whom the military identified as a Hamas special forces militant. In Khan Younis, a man was killed and five wounded in one strike, and tank fire killed a ten-year-old girl in a separate incident. The military said it was not aware of the child's death.

The violence continues despite the ceasefire that took hold in October. Since then, Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 1,288 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry. Five Israeli soldiers have been killed by militant attacks during the same period.

Tensions have also risen over kites found near a kibbutz, with Israeli officials threatening to intensify strikes unless Hamas stops them from flying toward Israel. Hamas dismissed the kites as "children's toys" and accused Israel of using them as a pretext for continued aggression.