Israeli Drone Strike in Gaza Safe Zone Kills 12-Year-Old, Injures Seven

Israeli forces carried out a drone strike on a tent in al-Mawasi, west of Khan Younis, on June 23 that killed 12-year-old Ahmed and injured at least seven other Palestinians, Al Jazeera reported. Health officials at the Nasser Medical Complex confirmed the death and injuries. The area had been designated a safe zone by Israeli authorities.

Al Jazeera correspondent Hind Khoudary reported that Israeli forces attacked the tent despite its location in the classified safe zone. She added that victims of such strikes are difficult to treat because Israeli authorities continue to restrict medical supplies into Gaza. A separate attack occurred on the western side of Gaza on Tuesday night.

Since the ceasefire took effect in October 2025, Israeli attacks have killed at least 1,027 people and injured 3,280 others in Gaza, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health. Cumulative figures since October 2023 show 73,041 Palestinians killed and 173,402 wounded.

A United Nations commission of inquiry released a report the day before the strike stating that Israel’s deliberate targeting of children forms part of its ongoing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

Commission chair Srinivasan Muralidhar said the evidence shows Palestinian children have been deliberately targeted and killed, and that children continue to be killed and injured after the ceasefire with disregard for international law. In the occupied West Bank, Israeli forces killed 29-year-old Mohammed Nazem Zayed with live fire in al-Yamoun on June 24, the Palestinian Health Ministry reported.

An Israeli special forces unit stormed the town, surrounded the house where Zayed was located, opened fire, and left him to bleed to death.