Israeli strikes killed at least eight people in residential buildings across Gaza City, Khan Younis, and Deir el-Balah overnight, marking the second consecutive night of attacks on the territory just days after Hamas accepted a US-brokered disarmament plan. The strikes occurred despite the agreement, which President Donald Trump said had left Israel "very happy" Reuters.

A disarmament plan, in this context, is a diplomatic framework under which an armed group agrees to surrender its weapons to a neutral intermediary — here, Trump's Board of Peace — rather than to a direct adversary. The plan also reportedly includes provisions for Israel to withdraw from Gaza, a territory now under roughly 70% Israeli control.

Palestinian health officials reported that two people, including a child, were killed in a strike on a residential building in Gaza City, with another person killed near Jabalia in northern Gaza. In Khan Younis, a father, mother, and their nine-year-old son died after a strike hit their house. A man and woman were killed when their apartment block was struck in Deir el-Balah BBC. More than 1,100 Palestinians have been killed since a supposed ceasefire came into effect last October, according to the same reporting.

The IDF spokesperson said the military was targeting operatives in Gaza and that two Hamas militants were killed. In a post on X on Sunday, the IDF said it had killed two Hamas commanders, one from the elite Nukhba force and one from the Maghazi Battalion. The IDF also reported killing a Hamas militant from the Jabalia Battalion in a separate attack last week BBC.

Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen said on Sunday that no deal had been reached to stop attacks on the Gaza Strip. Cohen went further, stating that Gaza should be placed under full Israeli control if Hamas did not disarm, despite the Board of Peace plan. That plan, brokered through Trump's Board of Peace, includes provisions for Israel to withdraw from the territory BBC.

The broader context here is a widening gap between the diplomatic framework and the reality on the ground. Hamas accepted the plan to hand over its weapons, and Trump publicly characterized Israel as satisfied. Yet Cohen's statements, coming days after the agreement was accepted, signal that elements within the Israeli government view the deal as conditional at best, or as insufficient grounds to halt military operations. The 70% Israeli control figure Cohen cited frames the territory's current status in a way that suggests operational dominance regardless of the diplomatic track.

The strikes on residential buildings and the resulting civilian casualties, including children, raise questions about how the disarmament plan is supposed to function in practice. If the agreement includes an Israeli withdrawal provision, continued strikes on civilian structures complicate any timeline for implementation. Cohen's call for full Israeli control absent disarmament effectively positions the military campaign as an alternative to the diplomatic process rather than a complement to it.

The previous night of strikes, on July 31, killed seven people across Gaza and destroyed a medical supply warehouse, according to Al Jazeera Al Jazeera. Gaza's Health Ministry condemned the strike on medicine stores as "heinous." Reuters separately confirmed the destruction of medicine storage warehouses and reported two Palestinians killed in the Sheikh Radwan area of Gaza City Reuters. Health officials had also reported on July 30 that separate Israeli strikes killed at least two children, a woman, and three men in Gaza Reuters.

The cumulative pattern across successive nights paints a troubling picture. Strikes on residential buildings, the destruction of medical supply infrastructure, and a reported death toll exceeding 1,100 since the October ceasefire all suggest that the disarmament agreement has not produced even a temporary de-escalation on the ground. Whether the Board of Peace plan can gain traction amid continued military operations and competing Israeli political positions is an open question. Cohen's statements indicate that at least one senior minister is prepared to publicly advocate for abandoning the withdrawal provision in favor of full territorial control, a posture that would fundamentally alter the terms the agreement was built on.