Israeli fire kills three more Palestinians in Gaza as Ben-Gvir leads settlers into Hebron's Ibrahimi Mosque

Israeli fire killed three more Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, nearly a year into a ceasefire that Gaza’s authorities say Israel has broken more than 5,000 times. On the same day, Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir led hundreds of settlers into the Ibrahimi Mosque in occupied Hebron, which Israeli authorities had closed to Muslim worshippers.

Killed in their homes and on the street

In Gaza City’s Al-Nasr neighbourhood, an Israeli airstrike hit an apartment in the Al-Batoul building, killing two Palestinians, Izz al-Din al-Beik and Muhannad Abu Foul, and injuring several others, among them children, medical sources told Anadolu Agency. Witnesses said an Israeli suicide drone hovered over the area before it struck, setting the building on fire and destroying the apartment completely.

In Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, a Palestinian named Ahmed Abu Mur was killed by Israeli army gunfire on Salah al-Din Street, according to medical sources at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. East of the city, Israeli forces carried out large-scale demolitions of buildings, witnesses said.

Israeli officials claimed that one of those killed in Gaza City was a commander of Hamas’s northern Gaza brigade. There was no independent confirmation of the claim.

A ceasefire in name only

The deaths add to a toll that has kept rising since the ceasefire took effect on October 10, 2025. According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, Israeli attacks since then have killed 1,421 Palestinians and injured 4,983. Since October 2023, more than 74,000 Palestinians have been killed and over 175,000 injured.

Gaza’s Government Media Office said it had recorded 5,147 Israeli violations of the ceasefire, and warned of an “imminent catastrophe” as winter approaches. Its figures show how little of what was promised has reached Gaza:

• Aid: 72,826 aid trucks allowed in, out of 210,600 expected, or 35 percent
• Travel: 13,785 people allowed to leave or enter, out of 35,000 expected, or 39 percent
• Homes: 201,000 buildings damaged, about 82 percent of all structures in Gaza
• Shelter: 1.98 million of Gaza’s 2.1 million people need shelter assistance
• Water: 91 percent of households face moderate to severe water insecurity

“Humanitarian and relief conditions in the Gaza Strip have become dangerous and catastrophic, exposing hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians to deadly consequences,” the media office said.

Ben-Gvir in the Ibrahimi Mosque, settlers at Al-Aqsa

In Hebron in the occupied West Bank, Ben-Gvir led hundreds of settlers into the Ibrahimi Mosque to mark the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. “When I arrive at the Ibrahimi Mosque, I draw energy that makes me want to sing and rejoice,” he said in footage broadcast by Israel’s Channel 14.

Israeli authorities had shut the mosque to Muslims for the holiday. The Palestinian Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs said the closure included a ban on prayers and on the call to prayer, and called it “a blatant assault on the sanctity of the Ibrahimi Mosque” and an infringement on freedom of worship.

In occupied East Jerusalem, 966 Israeli settlers entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Tuesday morning, according to the Islamic Waqf Department, which administers the site. More than 1,500 entered on Sunday and over 1,700 on Monday, including Ben-Gvir, the Waqf said.

Red Cross: life in the West Bank “intolerable”

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said violence, movement restrictions and the expansion of Israeli settlements were making life “intolerable” for Palestinians in the West Bank. Ambulances are delayed at checkpoints, patients cannot reach care, children are kept from school and families are being driven from their homes.

“The frequent and severe violence must be brought to an end,” said Julien Lerisson, head of the ICRC delegation. “Israeli authorities have responsibility to protect the population from violence, including settler violence.” He said respecting the law of occupation meant “protecting civilians from violence and ceasing settlement expansion”.

Palestinian figures cited by Anadolu put the toll in the West Bank since October 2023 at 1,206 killed, about 13,350 injured and more than 24,600 detained. The Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission recorded 628 attacks by Israeli settlers in August alone.

Pakistan’s position

Pakistan does not recognise Israel and has long called for an independent Palestinian state with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital. The latest killings come as Israel faces growing diplomatic pressure, including over its move to revoke the accreditation of Dutch diplomats in the West Bank. Read our earlier report on how Gaza’s death toll passed 74,000.

This article draws on reporting by Anadolu Agency.