7 Palestinians Killed by Israeli Forces in 48 Hours: Gaza Ministry
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- Gaza's Ministry of Health said hospitals received 16 bodies over 48 hours — 7 killed in recent Israeli attacks and 9 recovered from destroyed buildings — with 16 more injured and additional victims trapped beneath rubble that emergency crews could not reach.
- Israeli army violations of the ceasefire have killed 1,066 Palestinians and wounded 3,445 others since the October truce took effect, according to the ministry.
- The overall death toll since October 2023 has reached 73,090 killed and 173,550 injured, per Gaza health officials, who did not specify the circumstances of the latest deaths.
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directed the military in late May to expand its area of control inside Gaza to more than 70% of the strip during the nominal ceasefire.
- Hamas and Israel remain stuck in stalled Phase 2 negotiations, with Hamas's disarmament and the scope of Israel's withdrawal cited as the primary obstacles to moving past the initial truce.
Why it matters: The October ceasefire was structured to transition from large-scale fighting into Hamas disarmament and Israeli withdrawal, yet continued daily casualties and territorial expansion — 1,066 killed since the truce and Netanyahu's order to control over 70% of Gaza — show the interim period is functioning as a pause in escalation rather than a path toward implementation of the deal.
