Woman killed in Gaza strike as Israel's army chief warns of escalation
Deadly strikes continue in Gaza despite the ceasefire, and settlers reportedly set fire to a West Bank mosque. Israel's military chief warned of escalation on all fronts.
Symbolic image · Photo: Jaber Jehad Badwan / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
The Israeli military said a strike in Gaza City on Tuesday killed Mumen Ahmad Salameh al-Ay, whom it described as a commander and aide to senior officers in Hamas' Gaza City Brigade who held hostages during the war. It said he had been advancing attacks on troops and civilians "in systematic violation of the ceasefire"; the claims could not be independently verified. On Wednesday, Hamas-affiliated Palestinian outlets reported that an Israeli strike on an apartment in Gaza City's Rimal neighborhood killed a 33-year-old woman and wounded others. The military said only that it had struck a "terrorist."
In the West Bank, settlers set fire to a mosque and a car in the village of Mukhmas north of Jerusalem, Palestinian media reported; no one was hurt. Israel's military chief warned of the "potential for escalation" across all fronts and denounced settler violence. Netanyahu marked a day late the anniversary of the hostages' release, writing: "We brought them all back home." The remains of 28 dead hostages were returned in late 2025 and early 2026.