Is Israel Striking Gaza During the Ceasefire?

21 soldiers’ deaths are the only count the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit attached to the strikes it published on 13 April 2026, in a dispatch stating that Israeli forces had struck armed operatives who approached the yellow line inside the Gaza Strip during that week. The dispatch calls them precise strikes and says the forces are deployed in the area in accordance with the agreement, both the Israeli military’s own account and characterisation of its own operations. The ceasefire took effect on 10 October 2025 at 12:00, on the same unit’s earlier dispatch. Neither dispatch gives a number of strikes.

Figure	What it counts	Who published it	Period
10 October 2025, 12:00	Time the ceasefire took effect, with 72 hours designated for the return of hostages	IDF Spokesperson’s Unit	War diary dispatch of 4 November 2025
21	IDF soldiers whose deaths the dispatch attributes to one of the operatives struck, in an earlier anti-tank attack, the army’s own count of its own losses	IDF Spokesperson’s Unit	Published 13 April 2026, strike dated only to that week
Hundreds of metres	Length of an underground route the IDF states its forces located and destroyed in the Jabalia area, on its own account	IDF Spokesperson’s Unit	Since the ceasefire entered force, published 4 November 2025
10 October 2025 to 7 June 2026	Period COGAT treats as the ceasefire in its own humanitarian reporting	COGAT	Report of July 2026

The IDF records precise strikes near the yellow line in April 2026

The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit published at 18:15 on 13 April 2026 that Israeli forces had struck during that week a number of armed operatives who approached the yellow line and who it says planned attacks in the immediate term against its forces operating in the centre of the Gaza Strip. The dispatch’s own wording is that they were “attacked in precise strikes”, and it is the Israeli military’s own account of its own operations.

What the dispatch carries, and what it does not:

• The theatre: the centre of the Gaza Strip, on the IDF’s own description.
• The timing: “during the week”, with no date given for any strike.
• The quantity: “a number of” operatives, with no figure attached.
• The outcome: no casualty count for those struck.

Southern Command directed the strikes on operatives approaching the yellow line

The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit reported on 13 April 2026 that the strikes were directed by Southern Command and the Israel Security Agency, which is the Israeli military naming which of its own bodies ordered its own operations. The same dispatch states that IDF forces under Southern Command “are deployed in the area in accordance with the agreement and will continue to act to remove any immediate threat”, Israel’s own characterisation of its own conduct rather than a finding by any other body.

The yellow line is a forward line inside the Gaza Strip, on the IDF’s own description published in its war diary on 4 November 2025. Activity described as east of the yellow line is activity within the Strip.

The ceasefire took effect on 10 October 2025 at 12:00

The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit published on 4 November 2025 that the ceasefire entered force on 10 October 2025 at 12:00, with 72 hours designated for the return of hostages, and that battle-team forces of the Yiftach and 188 brigades under Division 252 were then operating east of the yellow line in the northern Strip in accordance with the ceasefire agreement and the directives of the political echelon. That framing is the army’s own account of its own deployment. COGAT records the same ceasefire period as 10 October 2025 to 7 June 2026 in its own humanitarian reporting, which is that unit’s own count of its own coordination activity and covers supply rather than fire.

21 soldiers’ deaths are attributed to one of those struck

The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit reported on 13 April 2026 that the deaths of 21 IDF soldiers were attributable to the activity of one of the operatives struck, in an earlier anti-tank attack on buildings where its forces were operating and on a tank crew securing them. The 21 is the army’s own count of its own personnel, and it belongs to that earlier attack rather than to the April 2026 strikes.

• Whose count: the Israeli military’s, of its own soldiers.
• What it counts: deaths in an anti-tank attack preceding the strikes reported.
• What it does not count: anyone killed or injured in the strikes themselves, for which the dispatch gives no figure.

The IDF publishes no count of strikes during the ceasefire

The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit published no strike tally in either dispatch: the 13 April 2026 entry gives no number and no date beyond that week, and the 4 November 2025 entry reports a located compound of launchers, rockets and launch positions in the Shuja’iyya neighbourhood and a destroyed underground route in the Jabalia area, again without a count of strikes. Both are individual dated dispatches from a continuing war diary, and no cumulative figure for the ceasefire period appears in either.

The same army does publish running operational totals for another theatre and period, which is where a reader will find figures of that kind:

• The Israel Defense Forces reported approximately 7,600 strikes across Iran and more than 4,700 operational sorties during Operation Roaring Lion, to 13 March 2026, on its own count. Those are Iran figures for a separate operation, and they are not Gaza figures.

Which figures here may not be added together?

The Gaza figures and the Iran figures come from different operations, theatres and periods, and neither set may be summed with or compared against the other. The 21 is a count of Israeli soldiers killed in an anti-tank attack that preceded the strikes reported on 13 April 2026, so it is not a casualty figure for those strikes and not a Palestinian casualty figure of any kind. Each dispatch is one day’s publication and supports a statement about what the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit published on that date, never a count of operations across the ceasefire. COGAT’s ceasefire reporting covers food, water and medical supply on that unit’s own records and carries no strike or casualty data. No Israeli body cited here publishes a count of strikes, shelling or resulting casualties in Gaza during the ceasefire.

Questions readers ask

Which ceasefire do these figures cover?

The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit published that the ceasefire took effect on 10 October 2025 at 12:00, and COGAT records the ceasefire period as 10 October 2025 to 7 June 2026.

Who published the April 2026 strike dispatch?

The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit published it in its war diary, timestamped 18:15 on 13 April 2026.

How many strikes has Israel carried out in Gaza since the ceasefire began?

The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit publishes no such figure. Its 13 April 2026 dispatch reports strikes on “a number of” armed operatives, with no total and no date beyond that week.

Does the IDF say the strikes were consistent with the agreement?

The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit stated that its forces under Southern Command are deployed in the area in accordance with the agreement, which is the army’s own characterisation of its own conduct.

Where is the yellow line?

The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit describes it as a forward line inside the Gaza Strip, in its war diary dispatch of 4 November 2025.

Which Israeli bodies directed the strikes?

The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit reported that Southern Command and the Israel Security Agency directed them, on the military’s own account.

How many people were killed in the April 2026 strikes?

The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit published no casualty figure for those struck, and no Israeli body cited here publishes a Palestinian casualty count for the ceasefire period.

What is the figure of 21 a count of?

The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit attributes the deaths of 21 IDF soldiers to the activity of one operative struck, in an earlier anti-tank attack. It is the army’s own count of its own personnel.

What did the IDF report locating in Shuja’iyya?

The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit published on 4 November 2025 that Brigade 11 forces located a compound containing launchers, rockets and launch positions there, on the army’s own account.

Which units did the IDF say were operating east of the yellow line?

The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit named battle-team forces of the Yiftach and 188 brigades under Division 252, with Yahalom engineers, in its dispatch of 4 November 2025.

Does COGAT report on strikes?

COGAT recorded food, water and medical supply entering Gaza between 10 October 2025 and 7 June 2026 on its own records, and reports no strike or fire data.

Does the IDF publish operational totals anywhere?

The Israel Defense Forces reported approximately 7,600 strikes across Iran and more than 4,700 operational sorties to 13 March 2026, on its own count, in a separate theatre and period.

Sources

• Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), 2026. Humanitarian Situation Report During the Ceasefire. gaza-aid-data.gov.il. Official or primary record.
• Israel Defense Forces, 2026. Iran-Israel War 2026 - Live Updates (March 13, 2026). idf.il. Official or primary record.
• Israel Defense Forces Spokesperson, 2025. Division 252 activity in the yellow line area, war diary. idf.il. Official or primary record.
• Israel Defense Forces Spokesperson, 2026. War diary, 13 April 2026. idf.il. Official or primary record.