Cairo, June 18 - Gaza's health ministry said on Thursday the death toll from Israeli fire since a U.S.-brokered ceasefire last October has surpassed 1,000, reporting a total of 1,008 fatalities after a recent strike on Gaza City.
Medics reported that an Israeli strike hit a vehicle on the main Omar Al-Mokhtar road in Gaza City, killing three people. The Israeli military did not immediately provide a comment on that specific incident. The ministry's cumulative count now stands at 1,008 Palestinians killed since the October 2025 truce brokered by U.S. President Donald Trump.
During the same period, Israel says four of its soldiers have been killed by militants. Israel has characterized its strikes as measures intended to prevent imminent attacks by Hamas and other militants. Hamas, for its part, seldom releases detailed information about casualties among its fighters.
The latest violence came as mediators sought to revive a negotiated transition under the Trump plan, which envisions Hamas laying down arms and a phased Israeli withdrawal. However, Israel and Hamas remain at an impasse over how to move forward with the next stage of that plan.
Nickolay Mladenov, identified in the plan as the Board of Peace envoy for Gaza, held discussions this week in Cairo with mediators from Egypt, Qatar and Turkey after Hamas and other Palestinian factions submitted their responses to the road map he presented, according to two sources close to the talks. Those sources said Mladenov delivered a revised version of the road map on Wednesday that addressed some faction concerns while maintaining what were described as the "core red lines" of the Trump plan. The sources did not provide further details. A Hamas official confirmed the document was under study.
On the ground, Israeli troops continue to control more than 60% of Gaza's territory, the health ministry said, ordering evacuations and destroying remaining buildings in areas under their control. Nearly the entire population of about 2 million people, most repeatedly displaced, now resides in a narrow coastal strip, largely in makeshift tents or damaged structures under Hamas control.
Despite ongoing mediation efforts and the presentation of a revised road map, violence has not abated, and the health ministry's figures underscore the human cost since the ceasefire took effect in October 2025. The combination of population displacement, extensive destruction of buildings and continuing military control over substantial areas of Gaza contributes to an uncertain operational environment for humanitarian access and reconstruction planning.
Summary: Gaza's health ministry reports 1,008 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire since the October 2025 truce brokered by U.S. President Donald Trump, including three killed in a recent strike on Omar Al-Mokhtar road. Negotiations over the next phase of the Trump plan remain deadlocked while mediators present a revised road map to factions. Israeli forces control more than 60% of Gaza, and nearly the entire population of about 2 million people live in a narrow coastal area.