Five senior members of the leadership of the militant Palestinian group Hamas have been killed in attacks on Hamas positions in the Gaza Strip.
Among those named by Hamas are Mahmoud Abu Watfa, head of the Hamas interior ministry and responsible for the police in Gaza, Issam al-Daalis, chairman of the government administration committee, and Bahjat Abu Sultan, responsible for Hamas’ internal security apparatus.
They all played a central role in Hamas plans to restore its rule in the Gaza Strip after the end of the war, the Israeli news site ynet reported.
According to Arab media reports, Israel’s army also killed high-ranking members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, including the spokesman for its military wing.
The Hamas-controlled health authority said that more than 400 people have been killed in the ongoing Israeli attacks so far. The figures do not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Palestinian media reported that many women and children were killed.
The Israel army has to comment on the victims of its Tuesday airstrikes.
Palestinians search for their belongings among the rubble of their destroyed homes, following the Israeli airstrikes on Khan Yunis. Israel launched a series of airstrikes against the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday after efforts to extend the ceasefire failed. Abed Rahim Khatib/dpa
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