GAZA/JERUSALEM, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Four Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip on Thursday, Palestinian sources said.

File photo: IC

Palestinian medical sources told Xinhua that two Palestinians were killed when an Israeli drone targeted a gathering of civilians in the Tuffah neighborhood, east of Gaza City.

In a similar attack, two others were killed in an Israeli airstrike on the Zeitoun area, southeast of Gaza City.

The Israeli army has not commented on either incident.

Separately, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement on Thursday that the IDF and the domestic security agency Shin Bet on Wednesday "struck and eliminated Muhammad Abu Shaleh, the Military Intelligence Commander of Hamas' Khan Yunis Brigade."

"Shaleh operated in violation of the ceasefire agreement to rehabilitate the organization's capabilities in the Gaza Strip and planned to carry out terror attacks against IDF troops and the State of Israel," it said.

Meanwhile, Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem said that Israel is "dangerously escalating its aggression against the Gaza Strip after deliberately killing four young men in an airstrike, in a deliberate violation of the ceasefire agreement."

Gaza's health authorities said Wednesday that the death toll since Oct. 7, 2023, had risen to 72,253, with 171,912 wounded. The authorities added that the death toll since a ceasefire came into effect in October 2025 had reached 677, with 1,813 injuries.