Shafaq News- Gaza
Six Palestinians, including three children, were killed by Israeli fire in Gaza City and Deir Al-Balah on Tuesday, Palestinian media reported, amid conflicting accounts over a security operation west of Gaza City.
Gaza's Government Media Office reported that a special Israeli force was detected during a security mission in the Al-Katiba area, prompting Israeli air support involving more than 10 warplanes and a series of strikes. The office reported deaths among both the force and Palestinian civilians.
قطع صوت الغارات براءة غنائها.. قصف مفاجئ يباغت طفلة فلسطينية في قطاع غزة ويحّول لحظات فرحها إلى رعب وهلع. pic.twitter.com/2wWnzMso9F
— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) September 1, 2026
Palestinian security authorities described the operation as an attempt to capture a senior resistance figure, saying the intended target evaded capture while an Internal Security officer at the scene was abducted. They also reported seizing weapons and equipment and detaining three people accused of providing Israel with operational support and intelligence.
Israeli media, citing Israeli officials, identified the captured man as Muin Al-Arabid, describing him as Hamas' internal security chief in Gaza City and a senior figure in its counterintelligence apparatus. Their account attributed the hours-long ground operation to a local militia operating with Israeli military air support, without the involvement of Israeli ground troops.
A Gaza security source told Al Jazeera that the abducted officer was not the head of the enclave's Internal Security Service, adding that the officer's wife was killed when their home was struck.
Hamas condemned the operation, describing the deployment of special forces and accompanying Israeli airstrikes in the densely populated Al-Katiba area as a violation of the ceasefire agreement and calling on mediators and the international community to intervene. The group did not address reports that a security official had been captured or identify the abducted officer.
The Israeli military acknowledged striking several targets in Gaza to remove what it described as threats to security forces and reported no casualties among its personnel.
#عاجل هاجم جيش الدفاع قبل قليل عددًا من الأهداف في منطقة قطاع غزة، بهدف إزالة التهديدات عن قوات الأمن.لم تقع إصابات في صفوف قواتنا.
— Lieutenant Colonel Ella Waweya | إيلا واوية (@CaptainElla1) September 1, 2026
The director of Al-Shifa Hospital put the toll from strikes around Al-Katiba at three killed, including two children and a woman, and eight wounded. In Deir Al-Balah, a 73-year-old man died from a gunshot wound sustained earlier in the day, according to Palestinian media.
In Jabalia, Gaza's Civil Defense reported that a direct Israeli strike on one of its teams critically wounded firefighter Yousef Hatem Salem, causing severe injuries including limb amputations. Palestinian media also reported a girl shot in the chest and a woman wounded in the foot by Israeli fire west of Khan Younis.
The Gaza Health Ministry recorded six deaths and 13 injuries across the Strip over the previous 24 hours. Since the ceasefire took effect on Oct. 11, 2025, it has documented 1,326 deaths and 4,398 injuries, along with 815 bodies recovered, bringing the cumulative toll since Oct. 7, 2023, to 73,462 killed and 174,509 injured.