Reuters: Israel kills senior Hamas security official in Gaza airstrike

An Israeli airstrike on central Gaza killed a senior official in the Palestinian internal security service controlled by Hamas, as well as his associate.

Reuters reports.

According to medics and officials from the Hamas-run Interior Ministry, the strike hit a car traveling through the city of Deir al-Balah.

Those killed included Colonel Wael al-Ledawi, head of the internal security service in central Gaza, and Major Ramez Abu Zraiq.

The Israeli military confirmed the airstrike, saying its target was a Hamas militant.

As Reuters notes, in recent months Israel has killed dozens of officers from the Hamas-controlled police, including senior commanders. Israel says many of them were linked to the group’s armed wing and posed an immediate threat.

Hamas, for its part, says the attacks on police structures are aimed at destabilising the situation in the Gaza Strip and violate the terms of the ceasefire brokered by the United States in October.

• According to Gaza health authorities, since the ceasefire took effect more than 1,190 Palestinians—mostly civilians—have been killed in Israeli strikes. Hamas, however, does not disclose information about its own losses.

• Since the start of the war in Gaza, which was triggered by Hamas’s attack on Israel on 7 October, 2023, there has been a surge in settler attacks on Palestinians and their property in the West Bank.

• According to the UN, since October 2023, 1,114 Palestinians have been killed there, the vast majority by the Israel Defence Forces. At least 35 deaths resulted from settler attacks.

• Since the start of the war in Gaza, 41 Israelis, including civilians and security personnel, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations in the West Bank.

• Israel occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem during the 1967 Middle East war. Palestinians seek these territories, along with Gaza, for their future state. Israel has built hundreds of settlements there, home to 700,000 Jews. Around 3.3 million Palestinians live alongside them. Under international law, these settlements are illegal.