At least 10 people, including five children, were killed in an Israeli strike on a building in Gaza City late Wednesday, according to local hospitals.
The target of the attack appeared to be a local Hamas battalion commander, Imad Asleem, who was killed alongside his teenage daughter Israa and buried on Thursday. Hamas has not officially commented.
The Israeli military released a short statement saying it struck “two central Hamas terrorists in the northern Gaza Strip,” without disclosing their identities. It is the latest Israeli strike targeting senior Hamas figures in recent days.
Footage from Thursday’s attack showed a badly damaged residential building in central Gaza City and destroyed tents in a neighboring displaced people’s camp. Around 20 people were reportedly injured.
Raslan Bajou, who was asleep in his tent at the time, said: “This is a sin, I swear it’s a sin.” He told BBC News his “neighbors were in pieces” and his wife was injured. Um Azzam al-Zaim, whose relative was visiting for Eid al-Adha, said: “We were soaked when a water tank on the roof was hit. Our tent broke and rubble fell on me.” She said she saw the bodies of children blown off the top of the neighboring building after gathering to share Eid chocolates.
Pictures from Gaza City on Thursday showed a large funeral procession, with a body wrapped in the Hamas flag carried on a stretcher, a gun placed on top. Several people waved green flags, the color associated with Hamas.
The attack came a day after the newly chosen head of Hamas’s military wing, Mohammed Odeh, was killed along with his wife and two sons in an Israeli strike. On May 15, Israel killed Odeh’s predecessor.
Israel has targeted a long list of Hamas leaders since the start of the war. On Wednesday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz wrote on X that his country had “pledged to eliminate everyone who led the October 7 massacre,” adding: “We pledged that Hamas will not rule Gaza civilly or militarily.”
On Tuesday, a strike on a car in Khan Younis killed Ihab Khrizim, head of a Hamas funds transfer network, and Mohammed al-Habash, a unit commander involved in weapons manufacturing. Another attack the same day killed at least five Palestinians in al-Meghazi refugee camp.
The strikes come at a critical time when Israel and Hamas remain deadlocked in indirect, US-brokered talks to advance President Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza. The next steps involve Hamas giving up its weapons and Israeli troop withdrawals. About 1,200 people were killed in the 2023 Hamas-led attack that triggered the war, and 251 others were taken hostage. Israel’s military campaign has reduced much of Gaza to ruins and displaced many of its 2.1 million residents. Israeli forces have killed more than 72,800 people in Gaza, according to its Hamas-run health ministry, whose figures the UN considers reliable.
Source: www.bbc.com