Israel massacres family of 4 in ramped up strikes on Gaza homes
People mourn after an Israeli airstrike killed a Palestinian family of four in Beit Lahia, Gaza Strip, Palestine, Sept. 10, 2026. (AA Photo)


Israel killed a family of four, including two children, when its military targeted their home in northern Gaza's Beit Lahia Thursday, according to Palestinian sources.

An Israeli airstrike killed a man, his wife, and their two daughters, aged 8 and 12, ⁠health officials said, as the Israeli military escalated the bombardment of houses over the past two days.

"The bodies of four members of the Ahmad family were recovered in pieces after an Israeli strike hit a house in the Beit Lahia Project area in the northern Gaza Strip," an official at al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City said.

The Israeli military didn't immediately comment on the attack.

A Palestinian security source in Gaza said that Israeli warplanes struck after midnight in Beit Lahia and separately in the heart of the Jabalia refugee camp, with Israeli forces also firing on tents of displaced people and ambulances.

"Israel continues its violations in the Gaza Strip," the security source added.

The airstrike is consistent with a recent trend of Israeli bombardment of houses as its military struck at least six homes across the enclave in the past two days, causing damage to nearby houses and ⁠tent shelters and forcing many families to flee, residents and medics said.

Some owners of the houses, or their neighbors, got a call from the military ordering them to leave ​the area shortly before missiles struck the buildings, residents said.

The Israeli military did ​not comment directly on the strikes on houses, but said Wednesday it had hit three areas across the Gaza Strip and ⁠dismantled three alleged weapons storage.

Ismail al-Thawabta, director of the Gaza government media office, denied Israeli allegations saying that Israel's targets were "the civilians and their homes."

Meanwhile, several people injured were taken to al-Shifa Hospital early Thursday after Israeli military vehicles and a drone opened fire on shelters and tents housing the displaced in Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, WAFA news agency reported.

Israeli warplanes also carried out an airstrike near Kamal Adwan Hospital in the camp.

Separately, Israeli naval vessels opened heavy fire in the waters off Khan Younis and in areas east of the central Gaza Strip.

The attacks marked the latest Israeli violations of the U.S.-backed cease-fire agreement in effect since Oct. 10, 2025.

The truce halted large-scale fighting but Israel continuously violates the cease-fire and undermines efforts to implement U.S. President Donald Trump's broader plan to end the Gaza conflict and establish permanent peace.

More than 1,300 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed in Gaza since the cease-fire took effect, according to the territory's health officials, while the Israeli military says four Israeli soldiers have died.

The Israeli army has killed over 73,000 Palestinians and injured over 174,000 in a brutal war since October 2023 that has destroyed or damaged much of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure.