According to the latest report from conflict monitor ACLED released on May 7, Israel carried out 35% more attacks on Gaza in April than in March. This figure reflects a clear shift in Israeli firepower after it ended a joint bombing campaign with the U.S. against Iran on April 8.
Gaza's Health Ministry said that since the ceasefire with Iran took effect, at least 120 Palestinians, including 8 women and 13 children, have been killed in Israeli attacks. That represents a 20% increase compared to the previous five-week period when Israel was still conducting airstrikes on Iran.
A blind Palestinian man named Lafi al-Najjar, whose son was killed in an Israeli attack on April 28, told Reuters: "The war is still ongoing. It only stopped on paper, but in reality and on the ground, the war has never stopped." His family now lives in a shelter amid the rubble of Khan Younis, once Gaza's second-largest city.
The Israeli military has not immediately commented on the reason for the increase in attacks on Gaza. The ceasefire deal, brokered by the U.S. and Qatar and in effect since last October, was meant to prevent major fighting. However, in practice, Israeli forces have not withdrawn from the territory, continue to impose strict restrictions on humanitarian aid, and hinder reconstruction efforts in the Palestinian enclave.
Currently, Israel still controls more than half of Gaza's territory, where it has destroyed many remaining buildings and ordered all residents to evacuate. More than two million people are now living in a narrow strip along the coast, mostly in damaged structures or makeshift tents, where Hamas gunmen still hold de facto control.
According to statistics, about 850 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since the ceasefire took effect. During the same period, at least four Israeli soldiers have been killed in attacks by Palestinian armed groups.
Separately, since Israel joined the U.S. in its bombing campaign against Iran in March, the Israeli military has also launched ground and air operations into Lebanon, where fighting continues, especially in the south, despite a U.S.-mediated ceasefire deal that took effect last month.
