Israeli strikes on Gaza constitute ‘serious crime,’ continuation of genocide: Hamas

Hamas has denounced the latest intense Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, which killed at least three Palestinians and wounded several others, describing the attacks as a deliberate disregard for civilian lives and a continuation of the genocide in the besieged territory amid ongoing violations of the ceasefire.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Gaza-based resistance movement said the Israeli bombardment of the Katiba area, west of Gaza City, and the resulting loss of civilian lives constituted a grave offense and a willful disregard for the lives of civilians. It said the attacks were a continuation of the horrific genocide being perpetrated against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

It added that the bloody onslaught has continued despite the Gaza ceasefire agreement reached in October 2025 in the Egyptian Red Sea resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh.

The statement said the mounting violations of the ceasefire, continued systematic attacks on civilians, tightening of the siege, and worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza demonstrate the defiant and arrogant policy pursued by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s administration in the face of mediation efforts. It said the policy also represents a blatant disregard for international law and humanitarian principles.

Hamas called on the US administration, as well as Qatar, Egypt and Turkey in their role as mediators, to take a clear position by condemning Israeli crimes against civilians and pressuring Israel to honor its commitments under the Gaza ceasefire agreement.

“We also urge the international community and global agencies, above all the UN Security Council, to take immediate measures to stop Israeli atrocities against civilians in Gaza, and to work to hold those responsible accountable before international judicial bodies,” the statement read.

In a separate statement on Tuesday, Hamas said it had held talks with mediators and Nikolay Mladenov, Director-General of the Board of Peace, following the latest Israeli attacks.

During the phone calls, the group condemned “the latest criminal operation carried out by the Israeli occupation army in the Gaza Strip, as well as subsequent attacks and bombardment that resulted in the killing and injury of a number of Palestinians.”

Zaher al-Wahidi, Director of the Information Center at Gaza’s Health Ministry, said the bodies of three Palestinians killed in Tuesday’s Israeli airstrikes, along with some of the wounded, were taken to al-Shifa Medical Complex. He said the dead included two children and a woman.

Five Palestinians killed, several wounded in Israeli attacks across Gaza

Five Palestinian civilians are killed and several others wounded in Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip.

Local sources and eyewitnesses said Israeli drones carried out the strikes.

A security source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said an armed group had arrived in the al-Katiba area before Israeli unmanned aircraft targeted civilian vehicles.

Palestinian media reported that an undercover Israeli special forces unit attempted an infiltration operation in the area, but was detected by the resistance and met with direct armed clashes.

Following the exposure and entrapment of the infiltration unit, the Israeli army launched intense strikes and a heavy fire belt consisting of over 10 airstrikes on the area to cover the withdrawal of the trapped force, killing and injuring civilians. 

Israeli authorities later alleged that they kidnapped a senior official in Hamas’s internal security apparatus in the operation. Hamas has not commented on that claim so far. 

Since the so-called ceasefire agreement took effect last October, Israeli attacks have killed more than 1,320 Palestinians and wounded more than 4,385 others, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

More than 73,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched its genocidal war on the Gaza Strip in October 2023, according to the ministry.

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