Israeli strike kills pregnant woman expecting twins in Gaza
Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 13 Palestinians, including two boys, in Gaza on Sunday, 15 March 2026. A pregnant woman and nine police officers were also killed in the attacks.
A strike on Sunday hit a house in Nuseirat urban refugee camp in central Gaza, killing four people, including a couple in their 30s and their 10-year-old son, according to al-Aqsa Hospital nearby. The woman was expecting twins, the hospital said. The fourth casualty, a 15-year-old neighbour, was taken to al-Awda hospital in Nuseirat.
“We were sleeping and woke up when we received the missile strike. The attack was very powerful,” said Mahmoud al-Muhtaseb, a neighbour. “There was no warning beforehand.”
Another strike hit a police vehicle in the Philadelphia Corridor, north-south, at the entrance to az-Zawayda city centre, according to the Ministry of Interior. The bombing killed nine police officers, including Colonel Iyad Ab Yousef, a senior police official in central Gaza, the ministry said. Al-Aqsa Hospital, which received the bodies, confirmed the death toll. It was reported that 14 others were wounded.
The ministry said it “condemns the heinous crime committed by Israeli occupation this afternoon when they bombed the police vehicle… The officers and personnel were carrying out their duty monitoring the market and maintaining security and order during the holy month of Ramadan”.
There has been no direct comment from the Israeli military regarding both strikes. The deaths on Sunday are the latest among Palestinians in the coastal territory since the “ceasefire” agreement between Israel and Hamas attempted to end the Israeli genocidal war that has lasted more than two years in Gaza.
Although the worst has subsided, Israeli strikes occur almost daily. Beyond Israeli airstrikes, Israeli military forces frequently shoot at Palestinians near zones controlled by Israeli forces. More than 650 Palestinians have been killed since 10 October 2025, according to Gaza health officials.
Israel announced it would reopen part of the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt on Wednesday, ending a two-week closure that has deepened the humanitarian crisis already catastrophic in the besieged territory.
COGAT, the Israeli military body overseeing civilian affairs in the occupied Palestinian territories, said the crossing would resume operations on 18 March for limited passenger movement in both directions, with no cargo permitted.
Entry and exit require prior Israeli security authorisation, coordination with Egypt, and oversight from the European Union border mission deployed there in early February.
The announcement comes as more than 20,000 sick and injured Palestinians, including approximately 4,000 cancer patients and 4,500 children, remain on waiting lists for medical treatment unavailable in Gaza.
Of this number, nearly 440 cases are classified as life-threatening. Israel closed the crossing on 28 February, the same day Israel and the United States launched an attack against Iran, citing “security” reasons.