IDF Says Gaza City Strikes Targeted Terrorists as Local Sources Report Five Killed
Israel described the operations as strikes on terrorist targets. Local casualty reports identified two separate locations and produced differing daily totals.
The IDF said two strikes in Gaza City on October 10 targeted terrorists, while medical sources cited by Reuters reported five people killed. The accounts placed four deaths near Panda Mall and one in the Tuffah neighbourhood. The army’s initial response did not provide further information about the targets.
The strikes came as Israel said Hamas was rearming and carrying out attacks in violation of the ceasefire. Reuters reported that Israeli operations against the terrorist group had intensified in recent weeks, bringing the continuing security threat into the same picture as the latest casualty reports.
Two locations, separate accounts
Panda Mall was the commercial centre named in the reports. Local Arabic coverage placed the second strike near Al-Mahatta Mosque on Jaffa Street in the Tuffah area. Those are separate reported locations, not two descriptions of one impact.
Local reports said Al-Shifa Medical Complex received four bodies and six injured people after the mall area strike. They also identified a 44 year old man killed at the second location. The hospital figures and individual details are attributed local accounts, not an independently audited casualty list.
A later Times of Israel report relayed a more detailed IDF account describing a meeting of Hamas Nukhba members and an Islamic Jihad commander as targets of the Gaza City operations. The Nukhba is Hamas’s assault force, members of which led the October 7 massacre.
Why the death totals differ
The Reuters account described five deaths across the two strikes. AFP reported six deaths in Gaza City since the morning, but its broader tally included an eight year old girl killed in a separate shooting. The two totals therefore covered different sets of incidents.
A report of six deaths during the day cannot automatically be presented as six deaths from the two airstrikes. Nor does a reported total identify every person’s affiliation. The available casualty information does not justify classifying all those killed as civilians or as terrorists.
The ceasefire and Israel’s security position
The ceasefire arrangement dating from October 2025 had not ended the threat of renewed terrorist activity, according to Israel’s account. Israeli statements about rearming and attacks explain the security rationale it gives for continuing operations, while the specific allegations remain attributed to the military.
The initial IDF confirmation established that Israel acknowledged the strikes. The later target description added its account of the purpose, but was not an independent reconstruction of the operation or a complete identification of everyone killed.
The immediate picture is consequently specific: two strikes acknowledged by the IDF, terrorist targets identified in its account, and five reported deaths in the medical breakdown for those locations. A separate daily tally should remain separate as further details emerge.
