Symbolic imageIsrael strikes Gaza City mosque as health ministry counts 60,700 orphans
The Israeli military struck a mosque in Gaza City, saying Hamas stored weapons inside; the Hamas-run media office rejected that account. On the same day Gaza's health ministry put the number of children orphaned since October 2023 at about 60,700 and the overall death toll at 73,335. In Rafah, preparations continue for a "humanitarian city" under the Trump-led Board of Peace, a project Palestinians in the enclave view very differently.
What happened
The Israeli military struck a mosque in Gaza City and said Hamas had used the building to store weapons, according to the New York Times. The media office of the Hamas-run government rejected the account and said Israel's claims were meant to justify its attacks on mosques. Separately, Gaza's health ministry reported on its Telegram channel that roughly 60,700 children have been orphaned since October 2023: about 52,000 have lost their fathers, close to 6,000 their mothers and at least 2,700 both parents. The same ministry put the cumulative death toll at 73,335 and the number of injured at more than 174,000; the figures are not independently verified. A ceasefire brokered by Egypt, Qatar, the United States and Turkey has been in force since 10 October 2025, with Israeli forces pulled back to the so-called yellow line while retaining control of more than half of the Strip.
The view from outside
The National in Abu Dhabi reports that Palestinians in Gaza are split over the Board of Peace project, with some seeing a first chance to escape current conditions and others fearing entrenched Israeli control and permanent fragmentation. The analyst Wissam Afifa told the paper the plan amounts to an "institutionalisation of Gaza's fragmentation" and would be confined to what Israel calls the humanitarian city in Rafah. Russia's TASS foregrounds the orphan and casualty figures and stresses that Israel still holds more than 50 percent of the territory.
What could happen next
Israel granted permission last weekend for the International Stabilisation Force to operate in areas outside its military control, a step the Board of Peace envoy Nickolay Mladenov welcomed. The force, drawing troops from several countries including Morocco and Indonesia, is to secure Gaza's borders and train local police, with Israeli withdrawal tied to the peacekeepers establishing control. The humanitarian zone offering temporary housing and basic services is set to begin in Rafah in the coming weeks. Afifa argues the immediate effect will be political rather than humanitarian, while a displaced resident interviewed by The National says he will judge the plan only by results.
Israel: The military says the Gaza City mosque was used by Hamas to store weapons and keeps control of more than half the Strip pending the peacekeepers' deployment.
Hamas-run authorities in Gaza: The media office denies the weapons claim and calls it a pretext for strikes on mosques, while the health ministry publishes the orphan and casualty figures.
Also involved