DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Deadly airstrikes in Gaza on Wednesday cast further doubt on whether new U.S. efforts can achieve a tenuous ceasefire in the Palestinian territory. Just two days after US negotiators reportedly asked Israel to reduce attacks in the Gaza Strip, at least 10 people were killed in two attacks on Wednesday, according to local hospitals and the Palestinian Red Crescent. Israeli troops also crossed the ceasefire line in southern Gaza and detained a Hamas police colonel at dawn on Wednesday, two witnesses and a Hamas official said. The Israeli military said that one of Wednesday’s strikes, in the Nuseirat refugee camp area, hit a Hamas commander who had participated in the Hamas-led attack in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and 251 kidnapped. A second strike in the Tuffah area of Gaza City hit four Hamas militants gathered at a police station, the army said, claiming they were planning to carry out attacks against Israeli troops. Israel’s military said an attack the previous day targeted a meeting of four Hamas commanders and additional militants. The slain commanders included Muhammad Hamdi Ahmad Al-Masri, Muhammad Attar and Muhammad Fathi Hussein Nasser, all accused of carrying out terrorist attacks against Israeli troops, and Samed Samir Harb Abu Habal, who infiltrated Israeli territory during the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023, according to a statement by the Israeli military. The Hamas-run Interior Ministry said Wednesday’s attack on the Gaza City police station killed eight police officers and a 13-year-old girl. Two officers were women, he said. One person died in Nuseirat. On Tuesday night, an Israeli attack on a busy seaside cafe killed seven Palestinians, including a child, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Jared Kushner, a U.S. negotiator and son-in-law of President Donald Trump, held a marathon meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday in which he asked Israel’s leader to reduce attacks on Gaza, a person familiar with the meeting said. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters. Also on Wednesday, Israel’s military said it had completed reviews of 150 incidents of troop conduct during the war in Gaza and would launch criminal investigations into the 2024 killings of a 5-year-old girl and her family, as well as 15 Palestinian paramedics in 2025. At least 17 killed in Israeli attacks enclave where more than 2 million Palestinians live. Since the ceasefire, Israeli strikes have killed at least 1,273 people, according to Gaza health officials. Subscribe to Morning Wire: Our flagship newsletter breaks down the day’s biggest headlines. The nearly three-year war between Israel and Hamas has killed more than 73,400 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry, which was part of the recently dissolved Hamas-led government, maintains detailed records that UN agencies and international organizations generally consider reliable. It does not distinguish between civilians and militants, but says women and children account for about half of the victims. In the early hours of Wednesday, at least 15 Israeli troops entered the coastal area of Muwasi, west of the town of Khan Younis, two residents and a Hamas official said. Accompanied by armed men, the troops stormed the store of Sabri Abdel-All, colonel of the Hamas-led Blue Police in Khan Younis. They also detained another resident identified as Nashat Ezzat Zaarab, they said. The two residents and the Hamas official spoke on condition of anonymity for their safety. The latest ceasefire negotiations offer few concrete commitments. On the diplomatic front, the ceasefire also appears stalled. Trump’s initial ceasefire plan laid out a broad vision to end Hamas rule in Gaza and rebuild the territory, much of which was reduced to rubble during the war. But since last fall, major sticking points have emerged over the terms of Hamas’s disarmament and Israel’s withdrawal, and which should come first. Earlier this month, Trump announced that Hamas had agreed to disarm. But Hamas said it would begin disarming if Israel stops attacks and withdraws, adding that abandoning its heavy weapons would come later and depend on the creation of a Palestinian state, something Israel’s government rejects. Netanyahu also rejected the deal, saying Israel will not withdraw from its current lines in Gaza until Hamas has completely disarmed. After Wednesday’s attacks, Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem lashed out at the Peace Board, the body created by Trump to oversee the ceasefire, saying it has provided “cover” for Israel to escalate its attacks in Gaza rather than pressuring it to respect the ceasefire agreement.___Associated Press journalists Julia Frankel and Giovanna Dell’Orto in Jerusalem; Sam Mednick in Tel Aviv, Israel; and Samy Magdy in Cairo contributed.
