Drone and Air Strikes Kill At Least Four Across Gaza, Including Son of Health Ministry Chief

At least four Palestinians have been killed and several others wounded in a series of Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip, medical sources and local authorities told Al Jazeera and other outlets. Among the dead is a child and Basir al-Bursh, the eldest son of Gaza's Health Ministry director general, Munir al-Bursh.

Drone Strike on Civilian Vehicle

An Israeli drone struck a civilian vehicle in the Sheikh Radwan market area of Gaza City on Saturday, the Gaza civil defence agency said. The strike killed one person and wounded at least four others, including two children. The vehicle burned for an extended period before rescue crews could extinguish the flames; one body arrived at al-Shifa Medical Complex badly burned and could not be identified.

"The vehicle was targeted by at least one drone missile. The fire just engulfed the vehicle for at least half an hour until the ambulance, the paramedics, or the civil defence crew had to be called up," Al Jazeera correspondent Hani Mahmoud reported from Gaza City. He added the body was "charred completely."

Death of Basir al-Bursh

Earlier on Saturday, a drone strike in the az-Zahra neighbourhood of Jabalia killed Basir al-Bursh and seriously wounded another person, medical sources said. Basir, the eldest son of Dr. Munir al-Bursh, was taken to hospital with heavy blood loss and was pronounced dead on arrival. Video obtained by Reuters shows Munir al-Bursh carrying his son's body, wrapped in a blanket, as mourners rushed it into an ambulance.

"I was with him in the tent, and he said, 'Dad, they will target us, you and me together.' I said, 'That is fine, we will go to heaven together.' He went outside the tent, and they struck him," Munir al-Bursh said in the video.

The Gaza Health Ministry offered formal condolences, calling Basir "dutiful" and expressing sympathy to Dr. Munir Abdullah al-Bursh and his family.

Other Reported Incidents

Local ambulance and emergency sources reported a fatal strike in the Shujayea neighbourhood east of Gaza City. Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah announced that a Palestinian girl died from wounds sustained a day earlier when Israeli forces opened fire north of the Nuseirat refugee camp. The same hospital reported that a woman and another person were wounded by gunfire east of the Maghazi refugee camp.

Al Jazeera's correspondent described Israeli reconnaissance aircraft, attack drones and quadcopters hovering at low altitude across the Strip throughout the morning, raising the danger to civilians and aid operations.

Casualty Figures Cited

The article cites that at least 1,390 people have been killed in Gaza since a United States-brokered "ceasefire" between Israel and Hamas was announced in October 2025, according to local reporting. It also includes much larger totals attributed in the original text for the period since October 2023—figures reported there list over 73,910 killed and 174,914 wounded. These larger totals and characterizations were presented in the source material and should be cross-checked with independent, primary sources for verification.

UNICEF is quoted in the article as saying that, on average, one child in Gaza is being killed each day, and UN agencies warn that many Palestinian families are now confined to roughly a third of the enclave amid destroyed buildings, rubble and limited services.

Notes on Sourcing

Details in this report come from local medical sources, Gaza civil defence, Al Jazeera reporting, hospital statements, and video obtained by Reuters. Israeli authorities had made no immediate public comment about the strikes at the time the original reports were published.