Three Charity Workers Among Five Palestinians Killed in Israeli Strikes on Gaza, Officials Say

Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip on Sunday killed at least five Palestinians, officials and local media reported. Three of the dead were charity workers killed when a community kitchen in the central city of Deir el-Balah was struck.

Al Jazeera reporter Hind Khoudary, reporting from Gaza City, said the three victims were staff at the relief organisation that ran the kitchen.

"This shows that Israel is not only targeting people, but also organisations serving the community across Gaza," Khoudary said.

Hamas condemned the strike in a statement, calling it "a deliberate war crime and a renewed scene of the ongoing genocide against our people in the Gaza Strip," and accused the international community of silence and inaction.

The Gaza Health Ministry said on Sunday that 72,760 Palestinians have been killed since October 7, 2023, and that at least 871 deaths have been recorded since the ceasefire that began last October. These figures are provided by the Health Ministry and have not been independently verified.

Israel's military currently occupies roughly 60 percent of Gaza's territory, separated by a so-called "yellow line" buffer zone. Within that zone on Sunday, the Israeli army said its forces had killed a person, stating the individual was armed and posed an imminent threat to soldiers; the army provided no evidence in its statement.

The army also said it had killed a Hamas commander, naming him as Bahaa Baroud. There was no immediate confirmation of that claim from Hamas.

Reporting on casualties and military operations in Gaza remains difficult, and independent verification of claims by either side is often unavailable. The incident at the community kitchen has drawn condemnation from local groups and renewed concern from aid organisations about the safety of humanitarian workers and facilities in the enclave.