Palestine News Today: Strike on Gaza City Café Kills Six, Including a Child
18 August 2026. Your daily round-up of the most important news about Palestine, compiled from international and regional sources. Today: an Israeli strike on a café in Gaza City kills six, settler children attack an ambulance, and a report shows the toll of the siege on women with breast cancer. Below, each story in brief, with links to the reporting it is based on.
Strike on Gaza City Café Kills Six
An Israeli strike on a café in the port area west of Gaza City killed six Palestinians, including a child, while efforts to secure an agreement remain stalled.
Sources: Al Jazeera
Settler Children Attack an Ambulance
Video released by the Palestine Red Crescent shows Israeli settler children attacking and blocking an ambulance in the occupied West Bank.
Sources: Al Jazeera
The Siege's Toll on Women With Breast Cancer
Al Jazeera looks at the devastating effect of the war and siege on women in Gaza with breast cancer, who struggle to access treatment.
Sources: Al Jazeera
New Gaza Working Groups Tie Rebuilding to Disarmament
New working groups on Gaza place disarmament and humanitarian aid at the centre, conditioning reconstruction on immediate disarmament.
Sources: Al Jazeera
Global Outcry Fails to Break the Siege
Al Jazeera's weekly round-up notes that despite international condemnation, settlers continued to besiege Palestinian homes in the West Bank, while the Board of Peace stepped back from parts of the Gaza disarmament deal.
Sources: Al Jazeera
At Least Six Killed in Gaza City Strike
At least six people were reported killed in an Israeli strike on Gaza City, as efforts to secure an agreement to end hostilities remained stalled.
Sources: Al Jazeera
A Japanese Activist Who Will Not Stop Protesting
A Japanese activist has kept up a solitary protest against the war in Gaza, standing week after week in a country where public demonstrations on the issue remain rare.
Sources: Al Jazeera
Context: Gaza and the West Bank
A year of ceasefire has brought Gaza no rebuilding. Strikes continue, entry restrictions remain, and humanitarian agencies say the shortages of fuel and equipment are now the main obstacle to recovery. Gaza's health ministry puts the death toll since October 2023 at more than 73,900, with over 174,000 wounded. More than 1,300 of those deaths have come since the ceasefire began.
Sources: Al Jazeera, OCHA
Settler violence in the occupied West Bank is at near-record levels, with 275 Palestinian communities affected this year according to the UN, almost matching the whole of 2025. Demolitions continue alongside the attacks: over 1,100 structures have been torn down this year for lacking permits that Israel rarely grants, displacing more than 1,500 people. UNICEF says 98 per cent of Gaza's schools were destroyed or damaged during the war, and more than 90 per cent of the territory lies in ruins, leaving families sheltering in buildings that engineers have assessed as unsafe.
Sources: OCHA
The UN has warned that the risks facing Gaza's civilians grow sharper as winter approaches, with flooding expected in areas where families are living in tents and damaged buildings and where sanitation has already broken down. Accountability efforts continue in parallel: cases before the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court, national investigations in several countries, and growing calls for arms embargoes and trade restrictions.
Sources: OCHA
Palestine News is published every day on Free Palestine Store. Each item summarises reporting from the named outlets in our own words; follow the source links for full coverage.
