Israeli airstrikes killed at least 37 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip on Thursday, including 11 people in a tent camp sheltering displaced families, medics said.
They said the 11 included women and children in the Al-Mawasi area, which was designated as a humanitarian zone for civilians earlier in the war between Israel and the ruling Hamas group in Gaza, which is now in their 15th month.
The director general of the Gaza police department, Mahmoud Salah, and his assistant, Hussam Shahwan, were killed in the strike, according to the Gaza Interior Ministry.
“By committing the crime of killing the chief of police in the Gaza Strip, the occupation wants to spread chaos in the (enclave) and deepen the human suffering of citizens, ” he said in a statement.
The Israeli military said it carried out an intelligence-based strike in Al-Mawasi, just west of the city of Khan Younis, and killed Shahwan, calling him the commander of Hamas security forces in southern Gaza. He did not mention Salah's death.
Other Israeli airstrikes killed at least 26 Palestinians, including six in the Interior Ministry headquarters in Khan Younis and others in the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, the Shati camp (Beach) and Maghazi camp in central Gaza.
The Israeli military said it had targeted Hamas militants who intelligence said were working in a command and control center “based inside the Khan Younis village compound in the Humanitarian Area.”
Asked about the 37 reported deaths, a spokesman for the Israeli military said it followed international law in fighting in Gaza and took “precaution that there could be to minimize civilian harm. “
The military has accused Gaza militants of using built-up residential areas for cover. Hamas denies this.
Hamas' smaller Islamic Jihad said it fired rockets into the southern Israeli kibbutz of Holit near Gaza on Thursday. The Israeli military said it intercepted one projectile in the area that had come from southern Gaza.
Israel has killed more than 45,500 Palestinians in the war, according to the Gaza health ministry. Most of Gaza's 2.3 million people have been displaced and much of the small, heavily built-up coastal area is in ruins.
The war was sparked by the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed and another 251 taken hostage in Gaza, according to Israeli figures. Hamas ally Islamic Jihad also participated in the attack.
Hostage tried to take his own life
An Israeli hostage held by the Islamic Jihad Gaza militant group has attempted to take his own life, the movement's armed wing spokesman said in a video posted on Telegram on Thursday.
One of the group's medical teams intervened and prevented him from dying, the Al-Quds Brigades spokesman said, without going into more detail about the person's identity or current condition. – hospitality
Israeli authorities did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Islamic Jihad spokesman, Abu Hamza, said that the hostel had tried to take his own life three days ago because of his mental state, without going into further details.
Abu Hamza accused the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of setting new conditions that had led to the “failure and delay” of negotiations to release the hostage.
The man was expected to be released with other hostages under the terms of the first phase of an exchange deal with Israel, Abu Hamza said. He did not specify when the man was expected to be released or on bond.
So far, the efforts of Arab mediators, with the support of the United States, have so far failed to reach a cease-firefor Gaza, under a deal that could also release hostages Israel as a result of the freedom of Palestinians in Israeli prisons.
The Islamic Jihad armed wing had decided to tighten security and safety measures for hostages, Abu Hamza said.
In July, the Islamic Jihad armed wing said some Israeli hostages had tried to kill themselves after they began to treat them in what they said was the same way Israel treats Palestinian prisoners.
“We will continue to treat Israeli hostages the same way Israel treats our prisoners,” Abu Hamza said at the time. Israel has dismissed allegations that it mistreats Palestinian prisoners. .
