The Israeli military said on June 29 that it killed senior Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives in separate operations in the Gaza Strip.
Palestinian officials reported civilian deaths and renewed their accusations that Israel is violating the ceasefire.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Israel Security Agency (ISA) said in a joint statement on June 29 that they killed Ismail Masri, whom they identified as the head of military defense in Hamas’s Rafah Brigade.
The statement said that Masri was killed during a strike carried out on June 23.
According to the Israeli military, Masri oversaw military security and counterintelligence activities in the Rafah Brigade during the war.
The IDF said he also helped rebuild Hamas’s military capabilities and directed activities intended to attack Israeli troops operating in Gaza.
The military said troops under the Southern Command remain deployed in parts of Gaza under the terms of the ceasefire agreement and “will continue to operate to remove any threat.”
In a separate X post on June 29, the IDF said it killed Zaher Brahim Khalil Abu Salem, whom it identified as a Palestinian Islamic Jihad operative.
The military said Abu Salem infiltrated Israel during the Oct. 7, 2023, attack, participated in the abduction of Israeli civilians, and later planned additional attacks against Israeli troops and civilians.
Reports of Civilian Deaths
The Hamas-run Ministry of Health in Gaza said an Israeli airstrike struck the central Gaza city of Deir al-Balah at about 9:30 a.m. local time on June 29, killing three Palestinians, including a child.
The Epoch Times reached out to the IDF for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.
The ministry also released updated casualty figures on June 29, reporting 1,045 fatalities, 3,380 injuries, and 786 bodies recovered since the ceasefire took effect on Oct. 11.
It said cumulative casualties since the war began on Oct. 7, 2023, had reached 73,058 fatalities and 173,488 injuries.
The Epoch Times cannot verify the figures reported by the Gaza Health Ministry.
The developments came as both Israel and Hamas continued to accuse each other of violating the U.S.-mediated ceasefire agreement, announced in October 2025.
Nikolay Mladenov, U.S. President Donald Trump’s appointed Board of Peace envoy to Gaza, has said both Israel and Hamas have violated elements of the ceasefire while continuing to support efforts to preserve the agreement.
Support for Gaza Plan
Senior U.S. and Gulf officials this past week reaffirmed support for Trump’s Gaza peace initiative.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio thanked the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states for supporting recovery and reconstruction efforts in Gaza.
The ministers also said in a joint statement issued after the June 25 U.S.-GCC ministerial meeting in Bahrain’s capital, Manama, that Gaza should ultimately be administered by “an independent, technocratic civil Palestinian committee.”
They stressed “the importance of the demilitarization of all non-state armed groups to enable Gaza’s reconstruction.”
The statement reaffirmed Trump’s position opposing the annexation of the West Bank and “further reaffirmed that no one will be forced to leave Gaza, and those who wish to leave will be free to return.”
Reuters contributed to this report.
