A Hamas spokesperson has been martyred by an Israeli air strike in northern Gaza, news outlets have confirmed, as Israel’s army continues i...
Hamas spokesperson Abdel-Latif al-Qanoua was martyred when Israeli fighter jets bombed his tent shelter in the northern city of Jabalia in the early hours of Thursday morning, according to Al-Aqsa television and the Shehab News Agency.
Several more people were wounded in the strike, including children, according to media reports.
On March 18, Israel abruptly ended a fragile two-month ceasefire as it resumed its intense bombing campaign and ground operations in Gaza. Israel has since killed hundreds of Palestinian civilians in an attempt to pressure Hamas into freeing the remaining captives held in the war-torn enclave.
Several senior Hamas officials have also been martyred over the past week. On Sunday, an Israeli air strike on the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza martyred five people, including Ismail Barhoum, the head of finances and institutions within Hamas’s political office.
That same day, Israeli fighter jets also bombed tents housing displaced Palestinians in Khan Younis. Salah al-Bardaweel, a prominent Hamas political leader and member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, was martyred in that attack alongside his wife.
Both men were part of Hamas’s political office – a 20-member decision-making body, 11 of whom have been martyred since the start of the war in late 2023, according to the Reuters news agency.
Hamas still holds 59 of the roughly 250 captives the group took during the October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel.
At least 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas assault while the Israeli military has now killed at least 50,183 Palestinians and wounded 113,828 others since launching its ground and air assault on the Palestinian enclave.
About 830 people have been martyred since Israel resumed attacks 10 days ago, according to statistics from Gaza’s Ministry of Health, with women and children making up more than half of the casualties.
The United Nations’ humanitarian agency (OCHA) also announced on Tuesday that 142,000 Palestinians have been forcibly displaced by the Israeli military since March 18, exacerbating an already dire humanitarian situation caused by Israel’s ongoing restrictions on aid entering Gaza.
The rising death toll in Gaza comes amid weeks of slow-moving and fractious ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas. Mediators – the United States, Qatar and Egypt – have failed to secure an extension to the first stage of the three-phase agreement, which expired on March 1.
Hamas has accused Israel of intentionally jeopardising truce discussions, aimed at bringing about a permanent end to fighting.
COMMENTS