Israeli Strikes Kill Several Palestinians in Gaza

Several Palestinians have been killed in separate Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip over two days, despite a ceasefire that began in October and is now in its seventh month. The attacks occurred in areas including Beit Lahiya, Zeitoun neighborhood, south of Khan Younis, Maghazi refugee camp, and Shujayea neighborhood. Raids by Israeli forces also took place in the occupied West Bank.

Brothers Abdelmalek and Abdel Sattar al-Attar were killed in an Israeli drone strike in Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza on April 16, 2026. Mahmoud Bassal, spokesman for the Palestinian Civil Defence, stated that the area was outside the zone under Israeli control as per the ceasefire.

Nine-year-old Saleh Badawi was shot dead by Israeli forces in the Zeitoun neighborhood east of Gaza City later that day.

Additional Deaths

in Gaza Mohsen al-Dabbari, 38, was killed by Israeli fire south of Khan Younis on April 16, 2026, according to Mahmoud Bassal.

Three others were wounded, including a teenage boy, after Israeli forces fired toward homes and tents east of Maghazi refugee camp, a witness told Anadolu agency. On April 17, 2026, brothers Mohammed and Eid Abu Warda were shot dead on Mansoura Street in the Shujayea neighborhood east of Gaza City while transporting water, with a third brother wounded, medical sources told Anadolu.

An Israeli drone struck a water desalination facility in the same neighborhood on April 17, 2026, killing one Palestinian and wounding several others, according to Wafa news agency.

Gaza’s Government Media Office reported that Israel has committed 2,400 violations of the ceasefire since October, including killings, arrests, blockades, and starvation policies. Israel’s war on Gaza has killed more than 72,340 people since October 2023, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, with at least 765 deaths since the ceasefire took effect and 32 since the start of April 2026.

West Bank Incidents

In the occupied West Bank, Israeli settlers set fire to two vehicles during an attack on Palestinian homes in the Majd al-Ba’a area west of Yatta, south of Hebron, on April 17, 2026.

Local activist Osama Makhmara stated that armed individuals from the settlement of Otniel infiltrated the area and burned vehicles belonging to brothers Khaled and Yasser Abu Ali. Israeli forces stormed ar-Ram town north of Jerusalem, breaking into homes and arresting Palestinians, and in Nablus, soldiers ransacked houses and detained about a dozen people across both areas, according to Wafa.

These raids are conducted under Israeli military law, which grants army commanders authority over Palestinians without requiring search warrants.

According to Addameer, the Palestinian Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, 9,600 Palestinian political prisoners are held in Israeli prisons and detention centers, including 342 children and 84 women, with 3,532 under administrative detention without charge or trial.

Broader Context and Reports Al Jazeera

journalist Mohammed Wishah was among those killed since the ceasefire, in a drone strike west of Gaza City on April 8, 2026.

UN Women reported that an average of at least 47 women and girls were killed each day during the war in Gaza, with more than 38,000 killed between October 2023 and December 2025. Sofia Calltorp, the agency’s humanitarian action head, stated that women and girls accounted for a higher proportion of deaths than in previous conflicts in Gaza and expressed concern over continued violence since the ceasefire.

United Nations experts described displacement in the West Bank as driven by Israeli forces and settler activity through attacks resulting in killings, injuries, harassment, and destruction of homes, farmland, and livelihoods.