Israeli aircraft, drones and artillery struck Gaza with fresh ferocity on Monday, killing at least 16 people and wounding scores more, the territory’s health ministry said. The onslaught, roughly 50 strikes since dawn, left areas in anticipation of what commanders called “expanded operations”.
Shells and precision‑guided bombs rained on Zeitoun, Shejayah and Tuffah districts, residents reported. Further blasts rocked Jabalia and its al‑Balad neighbourhood, where local medics earlier confirmed four fatalities. Ambulance crews said the true casualty count remained “impossible to verify” while shelling continued.
The latest escalation follows a 12‑day exchange of missiles, drones and rockets between Israel and Iran that ended with an uneasy ceasefire on 25 June. Since then, Tel‑Aviv has shifted its focus back to Gaza, arguing that militant infrastructure rebuilt during the pause must be “irrevocably dismantled”.
Gaza health officials said, “Israeli forces killed at least 68 Palestinians in Gaza on Sunday, including at least 47 in Gaza City and the north of the territory.” Monday’s deaths push the enclave’s war‑time toll to 56,500, with more than 133,000 people wounded since the campaign began last October.
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Rights workers inside Gaza, including staff from UNRWA and OCHA, as well as several Israeli and Palestinian non‑governmental groups, alleged that field commanders have authorised live fire on crowds gathering around humanitarian convoys. Israel’s daily Haaretz newspaper reported it had “plausible evidence” that orders to target “aid seekers” were issued by senior officers—an accusation the IDF said it would “review”.
Across the border, Egypt’s foreign minister announced Cairo is brokering a proposal for a 60‑day truce coupled with the staged release of Israeli captives still held in Gaza. Diplomatic sources suggested the plan will be presented to both sides later this week.
Israel’s military spokesman insisted operations would “continue as required to neutralise armed threats”, declaring eastern Gaza City a “restricted combat zone”. Residents who stayed behind began digging makeshift shelters amid collapsing water and power supplies.
The United Nations warns that children account for more than half of the enclave’s fatalities and that malnutrition has reached “critical, irreversible levels”. Aid agencies say only a fraction of the required food and medical supplies is entering via the Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings.
As black smoke shrouded Gaza’s skyline and sirens wailed, many Palestinians feared the barrage signalled the opening act of a fresh ground assault—one that could exceed last winter’s offensive in both scale and devastation.
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