Israel escalates Gaza strikes after Kushner talks end
This digest was compiled by AI from multiple sources — links to the originals are below.
Israeli forces intensified strikes on residential areas in Gaza within hours of US envoy Jared Kushner leaving talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on August 17. The attacks killed at least seven Palestinians at a Gaza City port cafe and nine at the former police headquarters, including the acting police director. The escalation followed Israel's declaration that kites and balloons from Gaza would be treated as acts of war.
Key Facts
- A strike on a crowded cafe at the Gaza City port killed at least seven Palestinians, including a child, hours after Kushner left talks on August 17.
- A strike on Gaza City's former police headquarters killed at least nine people, including the acting director of Gaza's police force and a 13-year-old girl.
- Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz ordered the military on Sunday to treat any kite, balloon, or drone from Gaza as an act of war.
- Subsequent attacks on Sunday killed at least three Palestinians, including four-year-old Muhammad Abdel Salam Taha.
Strikes After Talks
Hours after Kushner left, a strike on a crowded cafe at the Gaza City port killed at least seven Palestinians, including a child. The next day, a strike on Gaza City's former police headquarters killed at least nine people, including the acting director of Gaza's police force, the head of its women's police division, and a 13-year-old girl. A Hamas source told Al Jazeera the officials had gathered to prepare for the weapons handover called for under US President Donald Trump's peace plan. A separate strike that day killed a man Israel called a Hamas commander in Nuseirat.
Kite Trigger
After several kites landed in an Israeli border community, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz on Sunday ordered the military to treat any kite, balloon, and drone from Gaza as an act of war. Netanyahu's office echoed the warning, declaring Gaza will not return to the situation before October 7, 2023. Subsequent attacks on Sunday killed at least three Palestinians, among them four-year-old Muhammad Abdel Salam Taha. A predawn attack on a family's tent in Deir el-Balah killed two brothers on Monday, according to Palestinian reports.
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Israel escalates Gaza strikes after Kushner talks end
