The ceasefire holds in name only.
In the hours before dawn on a Thursday in June, Israeli helicopters struck four residential buildings across Gaza City, killing at least eleven people — among them women, children, and two disabled siblings. The strikes unfolded beneath the formal architecture of a US-brokered ceasefire now eight months old, a ceasefire that has not stopped the dying. Israel named senior Hamas security officials as its targets; local witnesses named the families buried in the rubble. Both things can be documented. What remains harder to hold is how a conflict that has claimed more than 72,000 lives since late 2023 continues to expand — in territory, in casualties, and in the distance between competing accounts of what is happening and why.
- Before sunrise, at least three Israeli helicopters struck simultaneously across Gaza City's Sheikh Radwan, Tel al-Hawa, and Shati refugee camp neighborhoods, with explosions powerful enough to shake the entire city.
- Eleven people were pulled from the rubble or found in the wreckage — including the wife and three children of a named Hamas official, two of whom had disabilities — while dozens more were wounded across densely populated residential blocks.
- Israel insists the operation precisely eliminated four senior Hamas security commanders; Palestinian civil defense and local witnesses describe family homes destroyed, not military installations.
- The strikes arrive inside a ceasefire that has nonetheless seen more than 940 Palestinian deaths since October, as Israel simultaneously announces plans to extend direct territorial control over seventy percent of Gaza.
- With no diplomatic mechanism visibly slowing the cycle of strikes, accusations, and casualties, the gap between the ceasefire's name and its reality widens with each morning's count.
Before dawn on a Thursday, Israeli helicopters descended on Gaza City in a coordinated operation. Within minutes, four residential buildings across the Sheikh Radwan and Tel al-Hawa neighborhoods and the Shati refugee camp were on fire. When the smoke cleared, at least eleven people were dead — women, children, and men recovered from the rubble. Videos circulating on social media showed one building in Shati fully engulfed, residents moving through flame and smoke.
Israel's military named its targets: Hassan Labad, deputy head of Hamas's General Security Apparatus, and three subordinates. Local sources confirmed Labad was killed — but so was his wife, three of his children, and two of those children had disabilities. Three other women died in the broader strikes across the city.
The operation took place inside the formal boundaries of a US-brokered ceasefire that has been in effect since October of the previous year. Israel has justified continued strikes by accusing Hamas of using the ceasefire to rearm. The pattern has grown familiar: alleged violations, airstrikes, Palestinian casualties, Israeli claims of precision targeting. Since the ceasefire began, Gaza's health ministry counts more than 940 Palestinians killed. Humanitarian conditions have worsened steadily — water scarce, medical supplies insufficient, child malnutrition rising.
These strikes belong to a longer and heavier arc. The current conflict began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led attackers killed approximately 1,200 people in southern Israel and took 251 hostages. Israel's sustained military response has, by Gaza's own health ministry count, killed more than 72,950 people across nearly three years. Now Israel has announced plans to expand direct territorial control to seventy percent of Gaza. Whether diplomatic pressure will mount, whether that expansion will proceed, whether the cycle will accelerate or slow — none of it is settled. The ceasefire holds in name. The strikes continue in fact.
Before dawn on Thursday, at least three Israeli helicopters descended on Gaza City in a coordinated strike. Within minutes, four residential buildings in the Sheikh Radwan and Tel al-Hawa neighborhoods, along with structures in the Shati refugee camp, erupted in fire. The explosions were powerful enough to be felt across the city. When the smoke cleared, medics and witnesses counted at least eleven dead—women, children, and men pulled from the rubble or found in the wreckage.
Social media videos circulated showing the aftermath: a building in Shati camp fully engulfed, people moving through smoke and flame trying to escape. The scale of destruction suggested these were not precision strikes on isolated targets but rather attacks on densely populated residential areas where families sleep.
The Israeli military offered its account within hours. The operation, they said, had successfully eliminated four senior members of Hamas's General Security Apparatus. They named them: Hassan Labad, the deputy head of the apparatus, and three subordinates—Asim Shubair, Abdullah Abu Kaloub, and Mohammed Abu Marq. This was the stated military objective. Local sources and Hamas civil defense officials, however, described a different reality at the Labad residence. Hassan Labad was killed, they confirmed, but not alone. His wife died in the strike. Three of their children died with them. Two of those children had disabilities. Three women also perished in the broader attacks across the city.
The strikes occurred within a framework of ongoing tension. A ceasefire brokered by the United States had taken effect in October of the previous year, yet Israeli military operations have continued. Israel has justified these strikes by accusing Hamas of using the ceasefire period to rearm and rebuild its military capacity. The pattern has become routine: accusations of violations, followed by air strikes, followed by Palestinian casualties, followed by Israeli claims of precision targeting of military assets.
The numbers tell a story of their own. Since that ceasefire began eight months earlier, more than 940 Palestinians have been killed, according to Gaza's health ministry. The territory's humanitarian situation has deteriorated steadily. Water remains scarce. Medical supplies are insufficient. Malnutrition among children has risen. And now Israel has announced plans to expand the territory under its direct control to seventy percent of Gaza—a significant territorial claim that would reshape the geography of the enclave.
These Thursday morning strikes must be understood within a longer arc. The current conflict began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led attackers crossed into southern Israel, killing approximately 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages. Israel's response was a sustained military campaign in Gaza that has, by the territory's own health ministry count, killed more than 72,950 people. That figure encompasses the dead from Thursday morning and thousands of others across nearly three years of conflict.
With international attention divided among multiple crises across the Middle East and beyond, Gaza has receded from the headlines in many parts of the world. But for those living there, the strikes continue. The ceasefire holds in name only. The question of what comes next—whether diplomatic pressure will mount, whether the territorial expansion will proceed, whether the cycle of strikes and casualties will accelerate or stabilize—remains unanswered.
Citações Notáveis
Israel has carried out repeated air strikes in Gaza despite the US-brokered ceasefire deal, accusing Hamas of rearming and rebuilding its forces.— Israeli military position
The dead included Hassan Labad, his wife, three of their children (two with disabilities), and three women from the broader strikes.— Hamas civil defense and local sources
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why does Israel keep striking if there's supposed to be a ceasefire in place?
Because both sides accuse the other of breaking it. Israel says Hamas is rebuilding its military. Hamas says Israel is the one violating the agreement. The strikes are Israel's way of saying they won't wait passively if they believe the threat is growing.
But how do you know if a target is actually a military official or just someone living in a residential building?
That's the central tension. Israel identifies the people they're targeting—they name them, claim they're security officials. But when the building comes down, it's a family home. Women and children die. Both narratives can be true at the same time, and that's what makes this so difficult.
The numbers are staggering—72,000 dead since October 2023. Does that change how people view these individual strikes?
It contextualizes them. Each strike becomes one more data point in a much larger pattern. When you've already lost that many people, another eleven dead doesn't shock the way it might in isolation. But for the families in those buildings, it's everything.
What does the territorial expansion plan mean?
It suggests Israel intends to stay. If they're planning to control seventy percent of Gaza, they're not planning a quick withdrawal. That signals a long-term military presence and a reshaping of how the territory is governed and accessed.
Is there any pressure from outside to stop this?
The ceasefire was US-brokered, so there's diplomatic involvement. But with attention scattered across other Middle East crises, Gaza isn't dominating the conversation the way it did in late 2023. That absence of pressure may be enabling the continued strikes.