GAZA CITY, Palestine: Gaza health officials said an Israeli strike on the municipal police headquarters in Gaza City killed nine people on Wednesday, with the Israeli military saying it targeted a Hamas commander in that strike and another further south.
Attacks in the Palestinian territory have continued in recent days, despite a renewed push by the United States to advance a long-term Gaza peace plan.
Gaza City’s Al-Shifa Hospital reported the arrival of nine bodies, including a woman and a girl, and at least 20 wounded following the strike in Gaza City.
The Palestinian territory’s civil defence agency confirmed the toll.
The Israeli military said the strike on the police headquarters targeted a Hamas commander who it said had planned to carry out attacks against troops in the territory.
“Prior to the strike, steps were taken to mitigate harm to civilians, including the use of precise munitions and aerial surveillance,” it added.
It said it had also struck a commander in Hamas’s military wing in the Nuseirat area in the central Gaza Strip.
At least 9 people were killed and 15 were injured after Israeli airstrikes targeted the Gaza Municipality Police Station in Gaza City. pic.twitter.com/1FzzwF1k7B
— PALESTINE ONLINE 🇵🇸 (@OnlinePalEng) August 19, 2026
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem condemned what he called Israel’s “complete disregard for all calls for a ceasefire”.
He said US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace, which is tasked with implementing the ceasefire plan agreed last October, “bears responsibility for this escalation due to its failure to fulfill its obligations by pressuring the occupation” to abide by its commitments.
Trump’s envoy Jared Kushner had said on Monday that progress towards disarming Hamas and moving forward with the Gaza peace plan could begin within a month following a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The meeting came two weeks after Hamas endorsed the latest stage of Trump’s Gaza plan.
Netanyahu, however, has refused to support the roadmap, vowing not to withdraw troops until the Palestinian Islamist movement is “genuinely disarmed”.
Gaza health officials said Tuesday that an Israeli airstrike killed six people in the port of Gaza City, with the Israeli army saying it had targeted several Hamas commanders.
