Israeli strikes killed at least five Palestinians across Gaza on July 16, 2026, including people in Gaza City, Khan Younis, and Tuffah neighborhoods, amid ongoing violence since the ceasefire in October 2025 [1].
This violence follows multiple deadly strikes earlier in the month. On July 14, a 10-year-old boy named Muataz Abu Shaar was killed by Israeli gunfire in Rafah in southern Gaza [2]. On the same day, an Israeli airstrike killed a 36-year-old man and wounded three more in Khan Younis [2].
The following day, July 15, a family of three—a father, mother, and their 6-year-old daughter—were killed in an airstrike on their apartment in Deir al-Balah. Their 4-year-old son survived with injuries [3, 4]. Nine others were wounded in various Israeli attacks across Gaza that day [4]. Also on July 15, a man named Hani Iyad Al-Ghoul died from wounds sustained in an earlier Israeli strike in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City [4].
Since the October 2025 ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which was meant to halt hostilities, near-daily Israeli air and artillery attacks have continued in Gaza [2, 3, 1, 4]. More than 1,100 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli strikes during this ceasefire period [2, 1, 4]. Four Israeli soldiers have also been killed by militants in Gaza since the ceasefire began [2, 3].
Gazan residents say the ceasefire has failed to bring security. Jibril Khattab said, "The entire people of Gaza have not lived a single day or a single moment of ceasefire. This ceasefire is an illusion. No place in all of Gaza is safe" [1]. Al Jazeera's Hind Khoudary added, "Children are being killed on a daily basis in Gaza, and if they survive air strikes, many die of their wounds because of the lack of medical supplies and hospitals operating with severely reduced capacity" [3].
Since the start of the conflict in October 2023, more than 73,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza according to Gazan sources, while Hamas fighters killed approximately 1,200 people in an October 7, 2023 cross-border attack into Israel [2, 3, 4].
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition has also blocked reconstruction efforts in Gaza despite the ceasefire agreement [1].
The fighting and casualties continue as no clear resolution has emerged. The most recent strikes on July 16 mark yet another day of lethal violence in Gaza, with no immediate end in sight [1].
