Hamas police chief among 40 reported killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza

More than 40 Palestinians were killed in 15 Israeli air strikes across the Gaza Strip, according to the Hamas-run Civil Defense Service in the Strip.

She added that the Gaza police chief and his deputy were among 11 people killed in an attack on Tuesday night on a camp for displaced families in the “Al-Mawasi Humanitarian Area” in the south of the Strip.

The Hamas-run Interior Ministry condemned what it described as the “assassination” of Mahmoud Salah and Hossam Shahwan, who it said were “performing their humanitarian and national duty.”

The Israeli army confirmed that it carried out a raid targeting Shahwan, who it claimed was a “terrorist” who helped the military wing of Hamas plan attacks on Israeli forces.

Six people were killed in Israeli bombing nearby later on Thursday, with more deadly attacks occurring elsewhere in the central and southern Gaza Strip.

The Israeli army also said it intercepted a missile fired from southern Gaza.

The Ministry of Interior in Gaza accused Israel of “spreading chaos” and “deepening human suffering” in the Strip by killing Salah and Shahwan. She insisted that the police force is a “civilian protection agency” providing services to Palestinians.

Chaos has increased in Gaza since Israel began targeting police officers last yearCiting their role in Hamas’ rule.

The IDF said the police force “conducted violent interrogations of Gaza residents, violating human rights and suppressing dissent.”

It claimed that “Hossam Shahwan was responsible for developing intelligence assessments in coordination with elements of the military wing of the Hamas movement in the attacks on the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip,” without mentioning Salah.

The army also said it had taken “many steps” to mitigate the risk of harm to civilians before the Al-Mawasi raid.

Three brothers, ages 7, 11 and 13, were among the nine other people killed.

Their father, Walid, said that Ahmed, Mohammed, and Abdel Rahman Bardawil were injured by shrapnel while they were sleeping in their family tent.

He told AFP: “I woke up to the sound of the explosion. I called my three sleeping sons, but no one answered. They were martyred immediately.”

Videos on social media showed the bodies of the two boys being transported to a local hospital by tuk-tuk, along with their blood-stained mattresses inside a destroyed tent.

Aida Zanoun, who was living in a nearby tent, said she heard an Apache helicopter flying over the area at around 01:00 on Thursday (23:00 GMT on Wednesday).

“Then we saw very strong [explosion]. It caused an earthquake in the neighborhood. The fragments reached a distance of 100 meters [330ft]They say, to Reuters news agency.

“When the morning came, we came to inspect [the scene]And…it’s devastation, complete devastation. What did the children do to get beaten?

The Israeli army declared the sandy strip of land along the coast in Al-Mawasi a “humanitarian zone” for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced by the 14-month war with Hamas.

But it repeatedly attacked the area, accusing Hamas activists of hiding among civilians.

Medics later said that six more people were killed in an Israeli air strike on the headquarters of the Gaza Ministry of Interior in Khan Yunis.

The Israeli army said that it carried out a strike on “Hamas terrorists who were operating in the control and command center located inside the Khan Yunis municipality building.”

Civil Defense said that ten more people were killed in the northern town of Jabalia and four others in southern Gaza City on Thursday.

Palestinian media also reported deadly raids in western Gaza City and the nearby Shati refugee camp, as well as in the central city of Deir al-Balah and the Maghazi refugee camp.

Meanwhile, recent cold, wet weather has worsened conditions in temporary camps for displaced families.

Rainwater and sewage have flooded more than 1,500 tents across Gaza since Tuesday, according to the Hamas-run Civil Defense Agency.

“When we woke up…we were shocked to find that it had poured in rain [our tent]Moataz Abu Hatab told the Gaza Today program on the BBC Arabic channel: “What led to us drowning in sewage.”

“We lost everything we had – mattresses, blankets and clothes. All the items we were able to buy or get during the war are now gone, and we are left with nothing.”

Israel launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to the group’s unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which some 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

More than 45,580 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in the Strip.