World | By WebDesk
CAIRO/GAZA — An Israeli airstrike killed at least six Palestinians and wounded 14 others in Gaza City on Tuesday, Palestinian health officials said, underscoring the gap between renewed US diplomacy and conditions on the ground just a day after Jared Kushner concluded talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over President Donald Trump’s stalled Gaza peace plan.
Medics said two missiles struck a small café in the fishing harbour in western Gaza City, an area being used as a makeshift displacement camp. A child was among those killed, according to Palestinian accounts.
Israel’s military said it targeted Hamas commanders and other militants whom it accused of planning attacks against Israeli forces, including an individual it said had participated in the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack. Reuters reported that Israel did not provide evidence supporting those specific allegations, while Hamas did not confirm that militants were among those killed.
Strike Comes After Kushner-Netanyahu Talks
The timing puts renewed attention on Washington’s attempt to move the Gaza process forward.
Kushner held lengthy talks with Netanyahu after earlier meeting Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya in Cairo, an unusually direct diplomatic engagement intended to revive implementation of Trump’s Gaza roadmap.
But the meetings produced no breakthrough on the central dispute.
The US-backed framework envisages Hamas disarming as Israeli forces withdraw and Gaza moves toward reconstruction and civilian administration. Netanyahu has insisted that Hamas must be fully disarmed before further Israeli withdrawal, while Hamas wants Israel to halt attacks and withdraw as part of implementation of the agreement.
Those competing demands have effectively stalled the next stage.
Violence Continues Despite Diplomatic Push
Tuesday’s deaths highlight a basic problem confronting the US initiative: diplomatic negotiations are continuing while military operations have not stopped.
A ceasefire agreed in October 2025 substantially reduced the scale of the fighting, but deadly incidents have continued. Reuters reported that more than 1,200 Palestinians and four Israeli soldiers have been killed since that ceasefire, according to figures cited by the respective sides.
Days before Kushner’s Israel meeting, he and other US representatives met Egyptian, Qatari and Turkish mediators in Cairo as Washington sought regional support for advancing the plan.
The continuing strikes, however, are making implementation increasingly difficult.
The Changer Angle: Diplomacy Has a Credibility Problem
The important story is not simply that another Israeli strike occurred after another diplomatic meeting.
It is the widening distance between diplomacy at the top and reality on the ground.
Kushner has now spoken directly with both Hamas leadership and Netanyahu — something that creates a potentially important negotiating channel. Yet even that unusual diplomatic access has not resolved the fundamental sequencing dispute: Who moves first?
Israel wants Hamas disarmed before further withdrawal.
Hamas wants Israeli attacks halted and withdrawal implemented as part of the process.
Until that question is resolved, every new strike risks doing more than causing casualties. It can weaken confidence that negotiations are capable of changing conditions inside Gaza.
That makes Tuesday’s attack a test not only of the ceasefire, but of the credibility of Washington’s latest attempt to turn diplomatic meetings into an enforceable peace process.