CAIRO/GAZA, April 28 (Reuters) – Israeli strikes killed five Palestinians, including a 9-year-old boy, in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, health officials said.
Medics said an Israeli drone killed the child, Adel Al‑Najjar, in eastern Khan Younis in the south of the enclave, while an Israeli airstrike targeted a vehicle in Gaza City, killing four people.
Regarding the strike in Khan Younis, the Israeli military said it had targeted an individual who posed a threat to Israeli troops by approaching the “yellow line” that demarcates the part of Gaza occupied by Israel. It did not provide evidence that the individual had posed any threat.
The Israeli military said the strike in Gaza City targeted what it said was a “terrorist”, without providing evidence.
At Nasser Hospital’s morgue, relatives arrived to bid farewell to Najjar’s small, white‑shrouded body.
Women cried next to the body, which lay on a medical stretcher on the floor, and men held a special prayer before carrying him to the cemetery for burial.
COLLECTING CARDBOARD FOR COOKING
The boy was collecting cardboard that the family uses for cooking, relatives said. There has been no electricity in Gaza since the war began in October 2023, and Palestinians have complained of Israeli restrictions on the entry of cooking gas.
“We don’t have gas. We collect cardboard to bake, they want to eat; they want to drink,” said one of the boy’s relatives, Sabreen Al-Najjar.
Violence in Gaza has persisted despite an October 2025 ceasefire, with Israel conducting almost daily attacks on Palestinians.
At least 800 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire took effect, according to local medics, while Israel says militant attacks have killed four of its soldiers over the same period.
“Isn’t it shameful what is happening to us? Isn’t it shameful that we bury our children every day, right in front of us? Isn’t it shameful? I swear to God, our hearts are breaking for these children,” another relative, Suhaib Al‑Najjar, said at the morgue.
Israel and Hamas have blamed each other for ceasefire violations.
More than 72,500 Palestinians have been killed since the Gaza war began in October 2023, according to Gaza health authorities.
Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies.
(Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Cairo and Ramadan Abed in GazaEditing by Keith Weir, Aidan Lewis and Gareth Jones)
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