Gaza health officials said on Tuesday that an Israeli air strike killed six people in the port of Gaza City and wounded a dozen more, while the Israeli army said it had targeted several Hamas commanders.

Mahmoud Bassal, a spokesperson for Gaza's civil defence agency, which operates under Hamas authority, said at least six people were killed, "including a child, and a large number were wounded, as a result of an Israeli raid on tents of displaced people in Gaza port."

The Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City said it had received five bodies and 13 injured, one of whom died later in the evening.

Eyewitness Mohammed Alghoul told reporters: "Israeli warplanes fired two missiles at the 'Sweet and Bitter' cafe on the fishermen's port west of Gaza City."

The Israeli army said it carried out a "precise aerial strike" against "several Hamas commanders" who "planned to carry out terror attacks against IDF troops operating in the Gaza Strip" and that "steps were taken to mitigate harm to civilians."

According to Israeli media reports, the Israeli army has curbed its operations in the Gaza Strip in recent days under US pressure, and has only been carrying out strikes to remove imminent threats to its troops, or to eliminate those who participated in the October 7, 2023 attack against Israel that sparked the Gaza war.

The strike came one day after White House envoy Jared Kushner met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who reiterated his position that a withdrawal of the Israeli army would only take place after Hamas is fully disarmed.

The Palestinian Islamist group, whose leader Khalil al-Hayya sat down with Kushner on Sunday, has said it is committed to the US-sponsored peace plan, and has demanded that the US administration pressure Netanyahu to adhere to it. (AFP)



Edited by Robert Kemp