(Forelines):At least 43 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip on Thursday, including 11 individuals in a tent camp sheltering displaced families, according to medics, reported by Reuters.
Eleven people, including women and children, were reportedly among the casualties in the Al-Mawasi district, a zone designated for civilian protection earlier in the conflict between Israel and Gaza’s ruling Hamas group, which has now entered its 15th month, as per Reuters report.
Mahmoud Salah, the director general of Gaza’s police department, and his aide, Hussam Shahwan, were eliminated in the strike, as per the Hamas-run Gaza interior ministry, reported by Reuters.
“By committing the crime of assassinating the director general of police in the Gaza Strip, the occupation is insisting on spreading chaos in the (enclave) and deepening the human suffering of citizens,” it further added in a statement, as per Reuters report.
The Israeli military stated that it had carried out an intelligence-based strike in Al-Mawasi, just west of the city of Khan Younis, and killed Shahwan, who was described as the head of Hamas security forces in southern Gaza. The statement did not mention Salah’s death, as per Reuters report.
Other Israeli airstrikes have claimed the lives of at least 26 Palestinians, including six who were killed in an attack on the Interior Ministry building in Khan Younis. Additional fatalities have been reported in the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, as well as in the Shati (Beach) and Maghazi camps in central Gaza, as per Reuters report.
The Israeli military has stated that it targeted Hamas militants based on intelligence indicating that they were operating a command and control center”embedded inside the Khan Younis municipality building in the Humanitarian Area,” according to a Reuters report.
When questioned about the 37 reported deaths, a spokesperson for the Israeli military confirmed that it followed international law in waging the war in Gaza and that it took “feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm,” reported by Reuters.
The military has alleged Gaza militants of using built-up residential areas for cover. Hamas rejected the claim, as per Reuters report.
Islamic Jihad, an ally of Hamas, claimed that it had launched rockets into the southern Israeli kibbutz of Holit near Gaza on Thursday. The Israeli military confirmed it intercepted one projectile in the area that had crossed from southern Gaza, Reuters report.
According to Gaza’s health ministry, over 45,500 Palestinians have been killed in the ongoing conflict. Most of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have been displaced, with large parts of the densely populated coastal region left in ruins.
The conflict began following Hamas’ attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which 1,200 Israelis were killed and 251 others taken hostage, as per Israeli reports.