Israel Kills Four More Palestinians in Gaza as 'Ceasefire' Death Toll Tops 1,500
GAZA CITY — Israeli airstrikes and gunfire killed at least four Palestinians in separate attacks across Gaza on Thursday, October 22, according to medical officials cited by Reuters. The attacks reached Gaza City, Khan Younis, Nuseirat and Jabalia a year after the October 2025 ceasefire was supposed to stop the killing. Gaza health officials now count more than 1,500 Palestinian deaths since that agreement took effect.
In Gaza City, an Israeli strike hit a car and killed at least one person, medics said. Israeli strikes also killed a man riding a bicycle in Khan Younis and another man near Nuseirat refugee camp. Medical officials reported that Israeli gunfire killed a woman near Jabalia in the north. Reuters initially reported two deaths in the Gaza City vehicle strike before updating that figure to at least one; its latest account puts Thursday's combined toll at four or more.
Israeli attacks hit four parts of Gaza in one day
Israeli fire killed people in Gaza's north, center and south. The casualties did not come from one isolated confrontation: the attacks struck separate locations across a territory where Israeli bombardment and ground operations have wrecked homes, roads and basic services. Families trying to survive the destruction still face new military strikes under a deal described as a ceasefire.
Israel's military said it struck Hamas militants in Khan Younis, Nuseirat and Gaza City. The military said it was unaware of the reported shooting near Jabalia. Its statements have not independently established the identities or combatant status of everyone killed. Those targeting claims deserve scrutiny, but they do not erase the Israeli military's responsibility for the strikes it carried out.
Israeli officials accuse Hamas of rearming and conducting or preparing attacks in breach of the ceasefire. Hamas denies those allegations and accuses Israel of undermining the deal. Those disputes do not make the continued Israeli strikes disappear. Palestinian medical workers reported four more deaths on Thursday while the ceasefire remained formally in place.
More than 1,500 Palestinians have died since the ceasefire
Gaza health officials say the Palestinian death toll recorded since the October 10, 2025 ceasefire has passed 1,500, Reuters reported on October 22. That cumulative figure covers roughly a year; it is not Thursday's toll. The ministry updates its records as it documents deaths and identifies victims, so the figure must be dated and attributed. Even on that careful basis, it exposes the human cost of continued Israeli military operations under the truce.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported 1,493 Palestinian fatalities and 5,299 injuries in the period since the ceasefire, using figures available through October 12. UN human rights investigators had independently verified 1,076 conflict-related deaths through the end of July. Those totals use different cutoffs and verification methods. Neither turns Gaza's continuing casualties into an abstract question of diplomatic progress.
Israel says four of its soldiers have been killed since the ceasefire began. Palestinian authorities put the overall number of people killed in Gaza since October 2023 at more than 74,000. These figures cover different periods and come from different sources. The wider toll reflects the scale of Israel's military campaign and the devastation that people in Gaza must still endure.
ARCHIVE PHOTO — Displaced shelters amid destroyed buildings in Beit Lahia, 23 February 2025. Photograph: Jaber Jehad Badwan, CC BY-SA 4.0. This image does not depict the October 22, 2026 attacks.
Israel's war devastated Gaza; the promised reconstruction has not arrived
The US-brokered ceasefire promised a route toward Israeli military withdrawal, arrangements for disarmament and reconstruction of Gaza. Negotiators still have not agreed on how to carry out those provisions. Meanwhile, Israeli forces continue to strike Gaza, and displaced families remain in shattered neighborhoods without reliable shelter, healthcare, water or electricity. Diplomacy has not yet delivered the protection that civilians were promised.
OCHA reported on October 19 that roughly 950,000 displaced people lived in sites facing medium or high risk of flooding, including more than 400,000 at high risk. Aid partners had supplies to provide only partial winter shelter assistance to about 18 percent of the 294,250 families assessed as needing it. Israel's military campaign left extensive destruction across Gaza; with the rainy season approaching, the shortage of safe shelter threatens still more suffering.
Food and medical support are also under strain. The same UN report said daily cooked-meal production fell 12 percent to about 614,000 because of funding constraints. Shortages of fuel, engine oil, spare parts and medicines threaten healthcare, drinking water and sanitation. Restrictions on the entry of essential supplies further obstruct recovery. For Palestinians living amid the ruins, these are immediate consequences, not technical details.
Officials have proposed multibillion-dollar recovery plans, but plans do not rebuild houses or keep hospital generators running. Gaza needs reconstruction materials, safe access and an end to attacks that endanger the people doing the rebuilding. Announcing future funding while Israeli military operations continue does not restore the lives that Israel's war has upended.
A ceasefire cannot mean permission to keep killing
International humanitarian law applies to every Israeli military operation, ceasefire or not. Israeli forces must distinguish between civilians and combatants, take feasible precautions to reduce civilian harm and refrain from disproportionate attacks. Israel's claim that it targeted a Hamas member does not, on its own, establish whether any particular strike complied with those obligations. Independent investigations should examine the targets, the casualties and the decisions behind each attack.
The immediate story is not a vague 'return of violence.' Israeli forces launched strikes and gunfire; Palestinian medical officials reported the dead. Investigators must still establish every victim's identity and test the military's targeting claims. But reporting should name the force responsible for the operations rather than turn those killed into anonymous victims of an unnamed conflict.
More than a year after the United States brokered a ceasefire, Israeli attacks continue to kill Palestinians, and much of Gaza remains in ruins. Thursday's reported deaths and the UN's humanitarian figures show how little safety or recovery the agreement has delivered. A ceasefire that exists on paper while Israeli forces keep striking Gaza is not peace for the people forced to live under those strikes.
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