Drone strike kills 3 in Gaza as Hamas prepares to transfer governance to
new committee
[January 13, 2026]
By WAFAA SHURAFA and SAMY MAGDY
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — An Israeli drone strike Monday killed
three Palestinians who had crossed the ceasefire line near central
Gaza’s Morag corridor, hospital officials said.
Israel’s military said the three approached troops and posed an
immediate threat. They said they later found weapons and
intelligence-gathering equipment on them. The strike came as Gaza awaits
an expected announcement this week of a “Board of Peace” to oversee its
governance.
Hamas has said it will dissolve its existing government once the new
committee takes over the territory, as mandated under the U.S.-brokered
peace plan.
The Gaza Health Ministry reports that more than 440 people have been
killed since Israel and Hamas agreed last October to suspend their
two-year war. Since then, each side has accused the other of violating
the ceasefire, which remains in its initial stage as efforts continue to
recover the remains of the final Israeli hostage in Gaza.
Israel’s military controls a buffer zone that covers more than half of
Gaza, while the Hamas-run government retains authority over the rest.
Throughout the war, Israel has supported anti-Hamas groups, including an
armed group in southern Gaza that claimed responsibility on Monday for
the killing of a senior Hamas police officer in Khan Younis.
Lt. Col. Mahmoud al-Astal was gunned down in the Muwasi area, the
Hamas-run Interior Ministry said in a statement.
Hamas spokesperson Hazem Kassem, in a post on Telegram on Sunday, called
for a speeding up of the establishment of the Palestinian technocratic
committee set to govern Gaza.
Hamas and the rival Palestinian Authority have not announced the names
of who will sit on the committee and it remains unclear if they will be
cleared by Israel and the U.S.
Officials say that Trump will announce his appointments to the Board of
Peace in the coming days.
Under Trump’s plan, the board would supervise the new Palestinian
government, the disarmament of Hamas, the deployment of an international
security force, additional pullbacks of Israeli troops and
reconstruction. The U.S. has reported little progress on any of these
fronts so far.
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Family members of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails and
medical staff take part in a protest organized by the Palestinian
Prisoners Committee calling for their release outside the Red Cross
headquarters in Gaza City Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad
Alshrafi)
According to Turkish officials, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan
participated on Monday in a video conference with the U.S. and
others meeting to discuss “preparations for the second stage” of the
ceasefire agreement. The talks, held as a continuation of a meeting
in Miami at the end of December, also included officials from Egypt
and Qatar.
Dozens of Palestinians, including medical workers, held a protest in
Gaza City on Monday to demand the release of thousands of
Palestinian prisoners still being held in Israeli prisons. The
protest was organized by the Palestinian Prisoners Committee outside
the building of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Gaza
City.
Meanwhile, groups that advocate for Palestinian prisoners said that
Israeli authorities have confirmed the death of a detainee from
Gaza.
In a statement Sunday, the Prisoners’ Affairs Commission and the
Palestinian Prisoner Society said that Hamza Abdullah Abdelhadi
Adwan died in prison on Sept. 9, based on information the family
received from the Israeli military. Israeli military officials said
Monday that its police force will investigate and send their
findings to the military prosecutor’s office for review.
Adwan, 67, a father of nine with serious health problems, had been
detained at a checkpoint on Nov. 12, 2024. Two of his children were
killed in the Gaza war.
Since the start of the war, 87 Palestinian detainees have died in
Israeli prisons — including 51 from Gaza — according to the
Palestinian Prisoners’ Affairs Commission. They said that more than
100 detainees — some not yet identified — had died of torture,
starvation, medical neglect, and abuse.
___
Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press reporters Sam Metz and
Audrey Horowitz in Jerusalem, Suzan Fraser in Ankara and Maryclaire
Dale in Philadelphia contributed to this report.
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