At least 13 people were killed in a series of Israeli military strikes across the Gaza Strip, according to local health officials, casting a shadow over a fragile ceasefire. The violence comes as U.S. President Donald Trump prepares to announce a new Board of Peace intended to oversee the tenuous peace process between Israel and Hamas.
Deadly Strikes Hit North and South Gaza
The Israeli military confirmed it conducted strikes on Friday, targeting what it described as Hamas infrastructure and fighters in both southern and northern Gaza. The army stated the operation was a direct response to a failed projectile launch by militants from the Gaza City area.
Health officials and family members reported that the strikes in northern Gaza and east of Gaza City resulted in multiple fatalities. At least one child was among the dead in the northern attacks. The overall death toll from Thursday and Friday's operations rose to at least 13 Palestinians.
Trump's Board of Peace Takes Shape
Amid the ongoing tensions, a significant diplomatic development is expected next week. Officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, indicate President Trump will formally announce the creation of the Board of Peace, which he has stated he will personally head.
This board marks a crucial step in Trump's broader Middle East peace plan, a process that has seen slow progress since a ceasefire in October ended over two years of intense fighting. In a related move, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed on Thursday that Bulgarian diplomat Nickolay Mladenov will be the board's designated director-general.
Mladenov, a former Bulgarian defense and foreign minister, served as the U.N. Mideast peace envoy from 2015 to 2020 and is known for his good working relations with Israel and efforts to mediate with Hamas.
A Ceasefire Under Strain and a Daunting Plan
The phased ceasefire remains in its initial stage, with efforts ongoing to recover the remains of the final hostage in Gaza. However, both sides have repeatedly accused each other of violating the nearly three-month-old truce. Local health officials report that continued Israeli strikes since the ceasefire began have killed more than 400 Palestinians.
The Israeli military maintains that all its actions post-ceasefire have been direct responses to violations of the agreement. The human cost was starkly illustrated on Thursday when strikes killed an 11-year-old girl who dreamed of being a doctor, a teenage girl, and two boys in a tent camp, injuring at least a dozen others.
Trump's proposed Board of Peace faces monumental tasks. Its mandate, as outlined in his plan, includes supervising a new technocratic Palestinian government, overseeing the disarmament of Hamas, deploying an international security force, managing further Israeli troop pullbacks, and coordinating reconstruction. To date, the U.S. has reported little progress on any of these fronts.
The urgency for international intervention was underscored on Thursday during a meeting in Cairo between Egyptian and European Union leaders. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas called for the deployment of the planned international stabilization force, describing a situation where Hamas still refuses to disarm as "extremely severe."
