Fatal attacks amid the truce
Eight Palestinians were killed and 13 injured in Israeli attacks across Gaza during the 48 hours ending October 27, 2025, the territory’s Ministry of Health said, according to Al Jazeera. The reported casualties occurred despite a fragile ceasefire that had taken effect on October 10.
Nasser Hospital said an Israeli drone strike near Khan Younis in southern Gaza killed at least two people on Monday. The supplied report did not identify those killed or provide details about the other attacks included in the ministry’s two-day total.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio addressed a separate Israeli strike from Saturday, saying Washington did not view it as a breach of the truce. He said the target was a Palestinian Islamic Jihad member accused of planning an attack on Israeli troops, and argued Israel could act against an imminent threat. The evidence did not include a response to that characterization from the targeted group.
The violence coincided with another step in the ceasefire process. Hamas handed over a coffin containing the remains of a deceased captive. Israel’s military said the Red Cross had taken custody and was transporting it to Israeli troops in Gaza.
Under the US-brokered agreement, Hamas was to return the bodies of 28 deceased captives. Sixteen had been transferred by Monday, while 20 surviving captives were released on October 13. Families of captives urged Israel, the United States and mediators not to advance the agreement until all bodies were returned.
Hamas negotiator Khalil al-Hayya said locating remains was difficult because Gaza’s terrain had been altered during the war. He also said some people who buried bodies had been killed and others no longer remembered the locations. Israel permitted an Egyptian technical team to enter Gaza with machinery and trucks to help search.
Humanitarian pressure continues
The ceasefire did not end Gaza’s broader humanitarian emergency. About 473,000 people had returned to the north in the truce’s first two weeks, according to the United Nations. They faced extensive property destruction and severe shortages of basics including food and water.
Palestine Red Crescent Society president Younis al-Khatib warned that residents would need mental-health support for years. The World Health Organization estimated that the number requiring such assistance had risen from about 485,000 to more than one million after two years of war. UNICEF said almost all children in Gaza needed support after deaths, injuries, displacement and family separation.
The reported strikes and the handover illustrated the ceasefire’s precarious condition. Its obligations were still being carried out through the Red Cross and search teams, while civilians continued to be killed and injured. Disagreement over what constitutes a violation added another source of uncertainty as mediators, Israeli officials and Hamas faced pressure over the agreement’s next stage.
