Israeli strikes kill at least 13 across Gaza

Israeli strikes across Gaza have killed at least 13 people, according to health officials, as US President Donald Trump was expected to announce his Board of Peace to oversee the fragile ceasefire.

Health officials and family members said at least one child was among the dead in northern Gaza following several strikes there, as well as east of Gaza City. All 13 people were killed on Thursday.

Israel’s army said on Friday that it struck Hamas infrastructure and fighters in southern and northern Gaza in response to a failed projectile launched by militants from the Gaza City area.

The phased ceasefire between Israel and Hamas remains in its initial stage as efforts continue to recover the remains of the final Israeli hostage in Gaza.

Officials said Trump is expected to announce next week his appointments to the Board of Peace, which he has said he will head, marking an important step forward for his Middle East peace plan. The process has moved slowly since a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect nearly three months ago.

The US official and another official spoke on condition of anonymity pending a formal announcement.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that Bulgarian diplomat Nickolay Mladenov would be the board’s designated director general. Mladenov is a former Bulgarian defence and foreign minister who served as the UN envoy to Iraq before being appointed UN Middle East peace envoy from 2015 to 2020. During that time, he maintained good working relations with Israel and frequently worked to ease Israel–Hamas tensions.

Under Trump’s plan, the board would supervise a new technocratic Palestinian government, the disarmament of Hamas, the deployment of an international security force, further pullbacks of Israeli troops and reconstruction. The US has reported little progress on any of these fronts so far.

On Thursday, Egyptian and European Union leaders met in Cairo and urged the deployment of the international stabilisation force. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Hamas still refused to disarm and described the situation as “extremely severe”.

Israel and Hamas have accused each other of violating the ceasefire, which took effect on 10 October. Continued Israeli strikes in Gaza have killed more than 400 Palestinians, according to local health officials.

The Israeli military says any actions since the ceasefire began have been in response to violations of the agreement.

Relatives and health officials said an 11-year-old girl who dreamed of becoming a doctor, a teenage girl and two boys in a tent camp were among those killed on Thursday. At least a dozen others were injured, hospital officials said.