Eight Martyred by Enemy Fire in Gaza, Including the “Guardians of the Frontiers” Official in the Qassam Brigades
Palestinian sources reported that eight civilians were martyred by Israeli enemy fire and bombardment in the Gaza Strip since Thursday morning, despite mediators’ announcement of the start of the second phase of the ceasefire agreement.
The sources stated that among the martyrs were Mohammad Al-Houli, a senior figure in the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, along with his wife and daughter, following an Israeli airstrike that targeted his home in the city of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza. The remaining victims were killed in two separate airstrikes on the same city.
Mohammad Al-Houli (Abu Fouad) served as the official in charge of “Guardians of the Frontiers” within the Qassam Brigades in the Gaza Strip.
In the latest raids, the army killed five Palestinians, including a child, after a warplane struck the Al-Houli family home with two missiles in Deir al-Balah, according to medical sources cited by the Anadolu Agency. The sources added that a large number of injured were transferred to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the city as a result of the strike.
The Civil Defense (Emergency Services) said in a statement that its crews “recovered the bodies of five martyrs following the enemy’s targeting of the Al-Houli family home in Deir al-Balah.”
According to an Anadolu correspondent, the targeted area lies outside the zone of Israeli control under the ceasefire agreement in force since October.
Earlier in the same city, two Palestinians were martyred after their home’s courtyard was targeted. Medical sources told Anadolu that the bodies of Saeed Al-Jarou and Abdulrahman Abu Ubaid arrived at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital after an Israeli drone struck them while they were in the courtyard of their home west of the city.
Later, the sources said that ambulance and emergency units at Abu Yousef Al-Najjar Hospital recovered the body of Hassan Mohammad Al-Qadi from the Al-‘Alam junction in the Mawasi area of Rafah, southern Gaza. Signs of gunfire were visible on his body, which was transferred to the Red Cross Hospital in the south.
Earlier today, a Palestinian child was injured by Israeli gunfire in areas from which the army had withdrawn in the town of Jabalia in northern Gaza, under the ceasefire in effect since October 10. Israeli forces also carried out artillery and air bombardment on several areas across the Strip, according to local sources cited by Anadolu.
The Israeli army continues to control the southern and eastern belts of the Gaza Strip and large parts of northern Gaza, maintaining occupation over nearly 50 percent of the territory.
The toll of Israel’s genocide in Gaza—ongoing for two years since October 8, 2023—has surpassed 71,000 martyrs and 71,000 wounded Palestinians, the majority of them women and children. The assault has devastated approximately 90 percent of civilian infrastructure, with the United Nations estimating reconstruction costs at around $70 billion.