Israeli Strike on Gaza City Cafe Kills at Least Six as Ceasefire Talks Collapse

An Israeli strike killed at least six people and wounded 14 more on Tuesday after hitting a crowded cafe in Gaza City's port area, according to al-Shifa Hospital officials who said they received the bodies following the attack.

The port has been turned into a sprawling displacement camp, Al Jazeera reported, and the strike hit as residents stepped out of their tents to escape the heat. Footage circulating on social media appears to show Palestinians lying on blood-stained ground while witnesses rush the wounded to waiting ambulances.

Al Jazeera's Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Gaza City, said such strikes come without warning and can hit anyone going about ordinary life, whether walking down a street or sitting in a cafe.

The Israeli military said it had targeted a gathering of Hamas commanders allegedly planning attacks. It provided no evidence to support the claim, a pattern documented repeatedly in strikes on crowded civilian areas throughout the war.

Hamas condemned the strike as a "blatant disregard for all calls for a ceasefire issued by mediators and guarantor states."

Ceasefire plan stalls again

The deaths come one day after Jared Kushner, President Trump's son-in-law and Middle East envoy, wrapped up a visit to the region aimed at pushing Washington's 15-point plan to end the war. Both Netanyahu and Hamas rejected the terms in meetings with Kushner, leaving the initiative dead in the water for now.

Netanyahu continues to insist Israeli forces will not leave Gaza unless Hamas disarms first. Hamas says it will only give up weapons once Israeli troops withdraw. The Israeli military currently controls roughly 60 percent of the territory, according to Al Jazeera's reporting, leaving both sides locked in a standoff that has repeatedly derailed mediation efforts.

Politics over a ceasefire

Netanyahu is running for another term in elections set for October, and his ruling coalition is trailing in opinion polls. Analysts and Al Jazeera's reporting suggest he is likely to keep stonewalling Trump's plan until after the vote, calculating that a ceasefire now could cost him politically with a base that has backed continued military pressure on Gaza.

That political calculus means civilians in Gaza City, many of them already displaced multiple times and now sheltering in makeshift camps along the coast, remain exposed to strikes like Tuesday's with no ceasefire in sight and no accountability mechanism for unverified military claims about who, exactly, is being killed.