Drone strike kills at least three Palestinians in Gaza City

An Israeli drone strike killed at least three Palestinians and wounded several others in western Gaza City on Thursday, medical sources told Al Jazeera. The attack adds to a rising toll in Gaza under a US-brokered ceasefire announced in October 2025.

The drone hit a vehicle near Abu Khadra Mosque in the Rimal neighbourhood, according to the medical sources cited by Al Jazeera. Hind Khoudary, reporting for Al Jazeera from Gaza City, said it was the first blast in the area after several quieter days.

Khoudary said residents described the vehicle as a civilian jeep. She reported that one of the three people killed had been identified as Abdul Jawad Abu Lebn, who was due to marry next week, and that wedding invitations were found in the car.

Other attacks were reported in Gaza on Thursday. The Palestinian news agency Wafa said Israeli fire wounded a fisherman off the Gaza coast and injured a man near Khan Younis in southern Gaza. Al Jazeera correspondents also reported that a girl was killed by Israeli gunfire in Beit Lahiya, in northern Gaza.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said at least 1,007 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the ceasefire took effect. The ministry put the overall Palestinian death toll in Gaza since October 7, 2023, at 73,018.

Reconstruction plans face military control concerns

The National Committee for the Administration of Gaza said Thursday it had set priorities for recovery and reconstruction and was prepared to begin field work when conditions allow. The committee, made up of independent Palestinian technocrats, said its announcement followed talks in Cairo with British Home Secretary Yvette Cooper.

In a statement, the committee said the meeting covered plans for health services, infrastructure repairs and support for the local economy. The committee said it operates under the Board of Peace, which it identified as including US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Reconstruction prospects remain uncertain as Israel expands areas under its military control inside Gaza, according to Al Jazeera. Maps shared with aid organisations in March showed the Israeli military controlled about 64 percent of the Gaza Strip, compared with 53 percent set out under the ceasefire agreement.

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights said Israeli forces have moved the “Yellow Line” farther into Gaza City. The group said the boundary, which marks Israeli-controlled areas where Palestinians risk being shot if they enter, was recently shifted in the Tuffah neighbourhood, forcing dozens of residents out of their homes.

Israeli media reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed the military to expand control to 70 percent of Gaza, according to Al Jazeera. Palestinians and rights groups have warned that the expansion of military-controlled zones could amount to ethnic cleansing.

Eight countries condemn mosque attacks

Violence also continued in the occupied West Bank. In a joint statement Thursday, the foreign ministers of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Pakistan, Egypt and Turkiye condemned what they called an escalation in Israeli settler attacks after incidents at mosques north of Ramallah.

The ministers denounced attacks on the Great Mosque in Jiljilya and the Farouk Mosque in the Nubani area, saying they violated the sanctity of places of worship and international law. Al Jazeera reported that Israeli settlers allegedly set fire to parts of the Great Mosque on Tuesday and painted racist Hebrew slogans on its walls.

Wafa also reported that Palestinian officials said Israeli authorities issued demolition orders for nine inhabited homes in ash-Shuyukh, northeast of Hebron. The report came amid what Al Jazeera described as increased settler attacks, settlement expansion and new outposts across the occupied West Bank.

This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.