Hamas police chief, deputy among 11 killed in overnight Israeli airstrike on Gaza humanitarian zone
An Israeli airstrike on a tent camp in central Gaza killed Hamas’s police chief, Mahmoud Salah, his deputy, Hussam Shahwan, and several others, including children, according to a report, citing Hamas.
According to a Times of Israel report, the strike took place in the al-Mawasi area, which is located within the IDF-designated humanitarian zone west of Khan Younis.
Medics reported a total of 11 fatalities in the attack, added the report.
The Israeli military confirmed Shahwan’s death, accusing him of “hiding under the protection of the civilian population” in Khan Younis, but did not mention Salah in its statement.
However the Palestinian media, including the Hamas-run Al-Aqsa TV station, said that the police chief Salah was also killed in the strike, in addition to nine others, including women and children.
The IDF identified Shahwan as the head of Hamas’s internal security, claiming he was responsible for significant human rights violations against Gazan civilians, including violent interrogations and involvement in planning attacks against Israeli forces.
The IDF said it took precautions to minimise civilian harm, asserting that Hamas was “cruelly exploiting civilian shelters, civilian buildings and the civilian population as human shields.”
“The Hamas terror group systematically violates international law, while viciously using the cover of civilian shelters, civilian buildings and the civilian population as a human shield while carrying out terror activities,” The Times of Israel quoted IDF as saying.
In a statement, the Hamas-run Interior Ministry condemned the killing of the two police officers, saying “they were performing their humanitarian and national duty in serving our people.”
“By committing the assassination, the occupation continues to spread chaos in the Strip and deepen the human suffering of citizens,” Times of Israel quoted the ministry as saying, adding that “the police force is a civil protection force that works to provide services to citizens.”
The ministry said Salah spent 30 years in the police and was appointed its chief six years ago.
Meanwhile, Gaza’s civil defence agency said in a statement that 11 people were martyred, including three children and two women, and 15 were injured after the occupation aircraft bombed a tent housing displaced people in the Al-Mawasi area, west of Khan Younis city in the southern Gaza Strip.
Defence Minister Israel Katz had on Wednesday warned Hamas that it would face intensified attacks if it does not soon facilitate the release of Israeli hostages from Gaza and continues its rocket fire at Israeli communities.
This threat follows an increase in rocket attacks from Hamas over the past week, after a period of sporadic missile fire from the Strip.
On Thursday at noon, Hamas launched a rocket at Kibbutz Holit near the border, which the IDF reported was intercepted.
At midnight on New Year’s Day, Hamas fired rockets at the southern city of Netivot.
On Saturday afternoon, they targeted Jerusalem with two long-range rockets, marking the first time in over a year that the capital has been attacked. Additionally, the group has launched several strikes against border towns near Gaza in recent days.
Source » firstpost.com
