On July 26, 2026, Israel carried out a double tap strike on a car in central Gaza, killing Gaza’s internal security chief and another officer, according to the interior ministry. This attack follows a pattern of near-daily strikes across the enclave despite a months-old ceasefire.
The strike in central Gaza marks the latest in a series of targeted operations that continue to claim lives across the Strip. While the heaviest fighting has subsided since a ceasefire took hold in October, the reality on the ground remains volatile. Israeli forces have maintained a cadence of near-daily strikes, resulting in the deaths of 1,045 Palestinians, including more than 360 women and children, according to health officials in Gaza.
Targeting the Jabaliya Police Station
The targeting of security personnel has become a focal point of the recent violence. On July 14, 2026, an airstrike hit a police station in the Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza, killing a woman and six police officers. Among the dead was Col. Mohamad Marwan Salem, a senior police commander and head of the Jabaliya police station, according to the Hamas-run Interior Ministry.
The Israeli military defended the operation, claiming that four of the slain officers were Hamas militants. However, the military provided no evidence regarding how those killed were involved in planning or executing attacks. This creates a sharp contradiction in narratives: Hamas maintains its police force is dedicated to maintaining law and order
, while Israel asserts that police stations are legitimate targets if they are used to advance military activities or house operatives involved in terrorist activities.
This strategic ambiguity has drawn international scrutiny. The United Nations human rights office reported that police personnel were attacked at least a dozen times in 2026, sometimes while directing traffic and patrolling streets. The UN warned that this pattern suggests Israeli forces may not be distinguishing between civilian police and armed fighters.
Drone Strikes in Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis
Beyond targeted security officials, drone and airstrikes have repeatedly hit displaced persons’ camps. On June 29, 2026, a drone strike hit a tent in Deir al-Balah, a town described as one of the least damaged in central Gaza. The attack killed at least three Palestinians, including 8-year-old Malik Abu Shawish and his grandfather, Hassan al-Hanagra. Hospital officials noted that Abu Shawish was visiting his mother’s tent at the time; his mother was among seven people wounded in the blast.
Similar devastation occurred in southern Gaza. In the Al-Mawasi neighborhood of Khan Younis, a strike hit a tent after a warning call, killing a 23-year-old mother and her one-year-old daughter. Another strike in the same coastal area killed two people and wounded 13 others. In the town of Qarara, a 31-year-old man—who had married only a few months prior and left behind a pregnant wife—was killed in a separate strike.
The human cost of these displacements is compounded by a lack of safe zones. During raids east of Khan Younis in July 2024, residents reported being ordered to move west toward humanitarian areas, only to find those areas were also unsafe. One displaced resident, Ghada, described the desperation via a chat app: Where should we go? Shall we cross into the sea?
Military Intelligence and Civilian Infrastructure
The Israeli military continues to justify these strikes by citing the integration of militant infrastructure into civilian homes. In Rafah, the military reported discovering a tunnel shaft and night vision equipment inside a children’s bedroom in a civilian building. This perspective is echoed by Ofer Guterman of Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies, who suggests that Hamas’ policing apparatus is closely integrated with military infrastructure through dual-role personnel and shared facilities for logistics and weapons storage.
The scale of the conflict remains staggering. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, the overall campaign has killed more than 73,058 Palestinians. While the ministry’s records are viewed as generally reliable by independent experts, they do not provide a breakdown between civilians and militants. Israel maintains that at least a third of those killed are fighters.
The Fragile October Ceasefire
The current violence exists in the shadow of a fragile ceasefire established in October. While this agreement stopped the heaviest fighting, it has not ended the killing. Since the ceasefire took effect, at least 1,123 people have been killed in Gaza. On the Israeli side, five soldiers have been killed in militant attacks during this same period.
The persistence of these strikes suggests that the ceasefire is functioning more as a reduction in intensity than a cessation of hostilities. For the displaced, the lack of a definitive end to the war is an unbearable burden. We are exhausted, starved, and want the war to end now, now not an hour later,
expressed Ghada.
The continuation of “double tap” strikes and the targeting of police stations indicate that Israel is prioritizing the degradation of Hamas’ administrative and security architecture over the stability of the ceasefire. This approach ensures that even in the absence of full-scale war, the infrastructure of governance in Gaza remains under constant, lethal pressure.
Related reading
