Israel kills four people in Gaza, including a child, medics say

(Reuters)

CAIRO/GAZA July 15 – An Israeli airstrike killed a man, his wife and ​their six-year-old daughter in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, Palestinian health officials said as talks to advance the U.S.-brokered Gaza ceasefire deal faltered.

The ‌strike on an apartment building in Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza killed Omar Abu Qassem, his wife, Asma, and their daughter, Habeeba, medics said. Their three-year-old son, Sami, survived, but was injured, medics said.

The Israeli military said the strike targeted a Hamas militant.

Friends and relatives arrived at the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir Al-Balah where they paid farewell to the three white-shrouded bodies before burying them after performing special prayers.

“The ​child is the lone survivor. How (to live) without a father, without a mother? What kind of cruelty is this that the people of Palestine, the ​people of Gaza, are enduring?” Abu Anas Shahin, a relative, said to Reuters.

“Where is the mercy? Where is the humanity?” he said.

⁠More than 58,000 children in Gaza have lost one or both parents, according to United Nations figures as of November 2025.