Israel kills nine in Gaza police station bombing
Palestinians carry a wounded woman away from the site of an Israeli strike that targeted the municipal police headquarters in Gaza City on 19 August 2026
Middle East Eye reports on 19 August 2026:
Israeli air strikes killed at least nine Palestinians at a police station in Gaza City on Wednesday, in the latest escalation as mediators push to advance the fragile ceasefire.
Gaza’s Police Department said Israeli fighter jets dropped several bombs on the Gaza Governorate Municipalities Police Headquarters.
Paramedics said at least nine people were killed and 15 others wounded.
Local media reported that several senior police officers were among those killed, including Colonel Faten al-Sahhar, the head of the Women’s Police Department.
The police officials described the attack as a “brutal massacre”. Gaza’s Ministry of Interior said Israel was seeking to spread chaos in the territory by targeting the police force.
A separate Israeli air strike in central Gaza on Wednesday killed another Palestinian. The latest killings came a day after an Israeli air strike hit a cafe in Gaza City, killing at least seven people, including a child.
Tuesday’s strike was the deadliest single attack in Gaza in weeks. Hamas condemned the attack as a “war crime”, saying its timing confirmed Israel’s intention to undermine mediators’ efforts to advance the Gaza ceasefire.
The Israeli military said it targeted “Hamas operatives” who were planning attacks on Israeli troops, but provided no evidence to support the claim. The military routinely uses similar allegations to justify attacks in Gaza.
Kushner’s green light
The escalation comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met US special envoy Jared Kushner earlier this week to discuss efforts to advance the fragile ceasefire in Gaza. After the meeting, Kushner gave Israel the green light to “finish the job” against Hamas if it refused to disarm.
Before travelling to Israel, Kushner, whose family has longstanding ties to Netanyahu, visited Egypt, where he met Hamas leaders as part of efforts to advance the talks.